Shokugeki no Kimiko
by IceColdSea
Summary: The times Totsuki had to deal with the brilliant, as well as chaotic Jewel Generation are long over. Soma Yukihira is an adult man already, who manages his diner alongside his wife Erina. However Totsuki is not quite safe yet, as the 115th Generation is just starting to bloom. And with the entering of Soma's and Erina's daughter Kimiko Yukihira, the next generation is complete!
1. Prologue

**Authors Note:**

 _Good Day,_

 _proper introduction will happen next chapter, as this is just a small, little prologue quickly telling you about what happened to Soma and Erina after graduation._

 _Hope you will enjoy it and that I can properly greet you in the next chapter_

 **Disclaimer - All characters mentioned in this Chapter are not mine and belong to their original creators**

 **Authors Note end**

* * *

 **The Appetizer**

* * *

Cheer and laughter was heard as the graduation got final.

 _They had made it._

 _They officially had made it._

They had survived the Training Camp, shone during the Autumn Election, overcame the Stagiare, celebrated the Moon Banquet Festival and so much more.

 _They had made it._

They graduated from the most prestigious culinary academy in Japan.

They graduated from Totsuki.

Not that the "God Tongue" ever thought that it could end otherwise, but it still was a good feel.

Along with the others, Totsuki's second seat bowed. Right after, she already was in the arms of her fellow classmates, who all ran together into a big group hug. A hug of relief and pure happiness.

The 92nd Generation was over. But till the end, this Generation shone. And now they officially were the Generation which counted the most graduates. More than you can count off by hand!

Their name would forever be remembered in Totsuki's long history.

To quote Nakiri Senzaemon, they truly were the "Jewel Generation".

-.-.-.-

First a more official celebration was thrown, in a huge, luxurious hall with a grand banquet. All of it of course organised by Totsuki itself.

But after that the new alumnis threw their private party just for themselves. And where could you celebrate better than in the Polar Star Dormitory?

Erina sat on the side, enjoying the sushi Megumi had made and chuckled about the familiar chaos around her.

Some were dancing, some got into a sudden cook off and some were chatting about past, present and future. All around laughter and clinging glasses were heard.

"Strange that all of this will be over soon, huh?" Someone said beside Erina.

Just hearing that particular voice let her smile grow wider and she turned her honey blonde hair to Totsuki's Elite Ten's former first seat.

Soma Yukihira.

 _He was her best friend. Her inspiration. Her source of light._

"You're certainly right." She replied to his statement. "I will miss everybody so much."

Soma nodded. "Same here." He then scratched his head and gave her a soft laughter. "I still can't believe that it's over by now." She answered with a simple hum.

For a moment there was silence between them, which they both filled with thinking about the thousands of memories they made within this school.

"Say Nakiri." He then asked. "What will you be doing now that school's over?"

"I still don't know." She sighed and leaned back. "It's like...for the first time in my life, I have no clear plan."

Erina let out a chuckle. "It's honestly great, I have the feel, that I can be whoever I want to be. That there is no schedule I have to follow, no expectations to fulfill. A horizon full of possibilities!"

Her hopeful, violet eyes stared at the ceiling, as if it was a starry night sky. She did not notice, the intense stare Soma was giving her, while she talked.

What followed was another silence.

Broken again by Soma.

"Nakiri?"

"Yes?"

"Remember the dish I made at the cook off with my father?"

"Of course. What's the matter with it?"

How could she forget? This cook off was long-awaited and one of the most thrilling ones anyone in Totsuki ever witnessed.

Soma had beat his father. The goal he had been working so hard for, had been achieved on that day. It was grand, it truly was. The cheers Soma received after his win were loud and truly impressed.

That was also the day where Erina had realised that she had fallen for the redhead.

Soma looked at her. For a long time. Then he spoke again. "That dish I made on that day...It was...different than others."

Erina just simply stared back. _What point was he trying to make?_

"It's...how should I put this?" He scratched his head again. Wow, he really was nervous.

"The dish...as I made it...I actually had something else in mind than...than...you know...victory. Or rather...someone else..."

He took a deep breath and didn't heard how Erina's heart suddenly started to pound a little faster.

"It was you Nakiri. The only thing, I had on my mind was you. I literally stood there, cut trough vegetables and nearly cut myself! Because all I thought about was, 'Gosh, I really hope Nakiri is going to find this delicious.'"

Erina's heart accelerated. Her cheeks started to burn of heat, while she stammered. " Wha...What are you trying to say?"

Gently he took her hand and then he smiled at her.

"Nakiri Erina, wanna travel the world with me?"

She responded with "What?" but then he actually did some explaining. After a lot of thinking Soma had decided to not take over the diner right now, but to actually hone is skills a little more. By doing it like his father did and travel the world, in search of new culinary techniques.

Erina was hesitant, but the more she thought, the more appealing it sound.

And then, they were gone.

It was like Totsuki's former first and second seat just dropped off the surface of earth.

While they actually did an intimidate world travel, visiting cast away places all over the world and learning more by every day.

And time went on and on. At some point nobody asked for their names anymore.

That was the point where Jouchiro Yukihira opened the door after a knock and had two adults standing in front of him. A freshly married Soma and Erina Yukihira forced to return home, due to Erina's pregnancy.


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

 _Okay, now we can get to the proper greeting!_

 _Guess who's back? Back again?_

 _Exactly! This fan fiction!_

 _Hooray?_

 _Okay, I am gonna be serious now!_

 _Welcome or Welcome back to "Shokugeki no Kimiko", formerly known as "Shokugeki no Soma - The Next Generation". Yeah I finally have a more clear plan and am now going to start to revise and then continue this lil fan fiction. To anyone confused right now: this is basically me starting over._

 _So yah, this is a Shokugeki no Soma Next Gen fiction. Before you start reading tough, let me make a few things clear!_

 _ **1\. English is not my native language and I apologize in advance for grammatical or spelling mistakes. I really try my best but if someone is open to be my beta reader, I would gladly accept.**_

 _ **2\. I have like...1,5% idea about cooking. I try my best to do my research and stuff but...don't expect too much from me. If you have tips or actually want to play the Yuki Morisaki for me...It would be so nice, if you inform me. Really, you would be such a great help.**_

 _ **3\. I am still a high school student, who is currently in between making her graduation. I don't have all the time in the world. Updates will be irregular and whenever I get to it.**_

 _ **4\. This is a Next Gen Fic so yes...there will be lots and lots of ships involving the original characters here, as they are obviously the parents of the fanchilds that will make their appearance here. If your OTP doesn't appears in this fic, then I am sorry...I really am...But I can't include every ship. I chose those I wanted and I am fine with that. If you aren't, then just don't read the story but don't bash me for shipping choices.**_

 _ **5\. The Fanchilds and any other Original Character that makes their appearance here belong to me. The parents of said childs and all the other canon characters belong to Tsukuda Yuto and Shun Saeki, as well as "Shokugeki no Soma" in general.**_

 _GOD! Longest Author's Note ever! So yeah, enough from my side and let's get to the story shall we. Featuring me, poorly trying to get a clue of cooking._

 _Inspiration was a german cooking book about bentos (For Germans interested! It's called "Manga Kochbuch - Bento" by Angelina Paustian)_

 **Author's Note End**

* * *

The Sumire Shopping District was most of the time crowded. It was a popular place where one can buy various goods and eat good food.

Not to forget, the sellers were all really friendly people, easy to talk to.

However at the moment it was rather empty. The sun got up not too long ago. It's the early morning, where the most shops aren't open yet. Also the students had holidays and it's a Saturday as well. Most people are still at home.

But if you listen closely, you can hear a noise coming from one of the many streets. A light noise, nobody wants to hear. A noise especially familiar to parents.

A Child's Crying.

There she is! A little girl sitting on some staircase out of stone, rubbing the seemingly endless tears out of her eyes while heavily sobbing. She wears a cute little hat and a cute little dress. Her hair is brown and short.

Suddenly there is another noise. It starts off to be barely able to be heard, but becomes louder by each second. It's the noise of footsteps, drawing closer and closer to the little girl.

Then the footsteps stop.

The crying child looks up and into the face of a teenage girl, looking at the younger one with concerned golden eyes.

Her hair is honey blonde and the morning sun is giving it a soft shine. It does look a little wild and spikey and it's been tied into two pigtails. She wears a blue shirt and black jeans, while her neck is covered by a white neckerchief. In both of her hands she carries two bags full of groceries.

"My, my, what's wrong little one?" The teenager asked. "Can I help you?"

With a whiny voice the other girl answered. "I..." She let out another sob. "I wanted to go and meet a friend and I took a Bento for both of us with me...But...But.."

The child buried her face into small, soft hands and cried into them. "I tripped and fell down. Now Hikage-Chan and me will have to starve!"

The teenager's head turned to a box lying on the floor, surrounded by spilled rice, vegetables and other things.

"Bento, huh?" She mumbled and suddenly a grin crept on her face. "What's your name, little one?"

Surprised the other girl looked up again and stuttered. "Hi...Hibiki...U...Umeko..."

"Well then Umeko-chan, I am very sorry about your bento. But don't worry! _The Yukihira_ may not be open yet, but this is an emergency, isn't it? So I guess, I'll make an exception."

"Y...Yukihira?" Umeko repeated in confusion.

The older girl laughed and put her hands on her hips. "Listen here, Umeko-chan, nobody will starve when Yukihira Kimiko is around!"

* * *

 **The First Plate - Enter Kimiko Yukihira! Meet Soma's and Erina's Daughter**

* * *

Only the morning sun shed light into the house. Wooden tables and wooden chairs stood perfectly assorted on the floor. The wall was full of white papers which read various dish names and prices for addressed dishes.

It was not a very big place, but it looked comfortable and appealing.

The only noise that could be heard, was the soft humming coming from another room.

"I'll be reborn right here, right now...I'll go beyond the sky I looked up at..."

In the well equipped kitchen there stood a red-haired man. He had a smile on his lips and was cutting trough some vegetables. His hair was spikey, he had a small beard and the eyes were golden as the sun. The shirt he was wearing was a restaurant uniform, reading the name _Restaurant Yukihira_.

He just finished as the door was thrown open. "Dad, I am back! I can't help unpacking tough, there's an emergency I have to take care of!"

The smile didn't left his lips as the man turned his head to the opened door, facing the young girl entering the room. An even younger girl shyly accompanied the teenager, looking around unsure and wondering.

"Kimiko." The man simply stated as a greeting to the blonde girl who now laid two bags on a table.

Kimiko gave him a nod, while the child next to her stared at the man with big, curious eyes.

"Could I ask, who you brought to us here?"

While knotting a purely, white apron around her waist, Kimiko answered. "Dad that's Umeko-chan. Umeko-chan, this is my father Yukihira Soma. Umeko-chan's Bento fell down and got spilled, I'll make her a new one."

Soma looked at Umeko and right after it he looked at his daughter. His smile formed into a grin and he shook his head with a laughter.

Umeko's green eyes have started to shine. She looked at Kimiko with pure, childish amazement and questioned. "You're going to make me a new Bento?"

Kimiko turned her head back to Umeko and cheerfully responded. "Of course! Haven't I told you already? As long as I am around, nobody's going to starve!"

"Show her your best, princess!"

Soon the sound of a cutting knife, a boiling pot and the astonished gasps of a child filled the house. The fragrance of fried udon, miso soup and onions also awoke some of the other residents of the house.

Soon a young boy, just by one year older than Kimiko, and an old man entered the kitchen as well.

The boy was a redhead just like Soma, with spikey hair ending at his shoulders. The eyes violet and interested. The elderly man beside him had grey hair and golden, wise eyes.

"Is Kimiko cooking breakfast today?" The boy asked while turning his head to Soma.

"Mornin' Hiraku; Mornin' Pops!" Soma greeted the two and then pointed to Umeko. "This is Hibiki Umeko, as she told me, a customer, who lost her Bento. Kimiko is just making her a new one."

Hiraku yawned and tied his loose flame-red, spikey hair into a short ponytail, then casually leaned against a wall. "Well, I am curious of what you will show off Kimiko, leave some for me."

"Of course I will leave some, Mom has to have a taste as well." Kimiko countered without even turning around, absolutely focusing on chopping trough a pumpkin. Soma's father laughed.

Rice was boiling. Onions were added to the Miso Soup.

It sizzled as various carefully cutted vegetables were thrown into a pan with soy sauce.

 **Chop, Chop, Chop, Chop** was the noise that filled the kitchen as the knife went trough potatoes. Immediately followed by the sound of the knife cutting trough bacon.

Kimiko's eyes were focused on the seemingly thousands of ingredients in front of her. On the boiling pot and the frying vegetables. On the baking potatoes and the cooking miso soup. She and the rest didn't even notice the woman standing at the door, watching Kimiko with critical but proud violet eyes.

"Done!" Kimiko finally exclaimed and her eyes sparkled as she turned to her family who looked back expectingly. Umeko showed wonder and curiosity.

To lunch jars, both containing three same-sized boxes inside, were placed on the table. "I present to you: 'Yukihira's Special Emergency Bento'!"

Umeko's pupils grew even wider and her cheeks reddened. "Let it hopefully satisfy you." Kimiko grinned and then looked at her father, brother and grandfather with slightly challenging eyes.

Hiraku just wanted to open the second lunch jar, as they suddenly heard soft clapping and everyone turned their head to the door.

Her hair had the same colour as Kimiko's, a warm honey blonde. The eyes shone in a noble violet. She smiled, but still gave off the impression that she could end your whole career with just one fingersnip.

"Good Morning, everyone."

"Mom!" Hiraku and Kimiko simultaneously call out. "Good Morning", Soma's father nodded into the woman's direction.

"Well, Well Mornin' Erina." Soma chuckled and sent a smug grin to his wife. "What a dramatical appearance! Nice way of overplaying that you slept the longest again!"

For a moment Erina's cheeks reddened and she feels busted. But with a playful "Hmph..." she turned away from Soma and back to Kimiko.

"Well, do you want me to taste?"

Hastily Kimiko gave her a nod. "Defiantly Mom! Just wait a second."

She took one of the two lunch jars into her hands and walked over to the shy Umeko. "Here Umeko-Chan, you should get to Hikage-Chan now shouldn't you? I hope the bento will taste good for you two...oh and you can keep the box if you want."

"Tha...Thank you so much, Kimiko-San!" Umeko stammered with admiration. She then bowed and left with millions of "Thank You"'s and one last "Goodbye" the restaurant.

"Well then..." Kimiko sighed and turned to her mother. The glim in her golden eyes practically voiced what she was thinking: _"Bring it On."_

"Time for the Taste Test."

The lunch jar was opened and revealed the three boxes inside, which where separated and now being inspected by the Yukihira family.

"Orange Rice?" Was the first thing Hiraku noted. "You mixed Pumpkin into it, didn't you kiddo?" Joichirou asked. "Indeed." Kimiko nodded in response.

Miso soup with onion and bacon was filling one of the boxes. The other one held orange rice with small pumpkin slices in between and plastic separated it from the fried udon with Karaage mixed into them laying next to it.

And last but not least, the last box contained fried vegetables, potatoes with a slice of bacon bond around it and some kind of rice sandwiches filled with salmon and asparagus.

Soma's first words addressed the miso soup. "Well, look who cooked her favourite soup." Kimiko shrugged and scratched her head. "Well it was for Umeko-chan and I thought I should give her a taste of the miso soup you always made for me as kid."

"Well, I guess it's my duty to taste the soup first then!" With that Kimiko's father took a spoon. Kimiko's grandfather decided he would try the Udon first.

"Rice Sandwiches?" Hiraku questioned and took one of mentioned into his hands.

It looked quite like sushi. As nori was wrapped around the pile of rice in which you could find asparagus and salmon with a mayo dip.

"Exactly, brother." Kimiko replied, while her mother took the chopsticks and set her focus on the potatoes with bacon around it.

"Thanks for the food!"

And then the bites were taken.

"Oh, the asparagus is cooked perfectly." Hiraku complimented. His tongue was quite sensitive and critical, means it was a pretty good thing to hear from him, making Kimiko a little proud.

Soma praised with a satisfied smile. "You adapted the Miso Soup greatly."

Joichirou patted his granddaughters head. "You get better everyday, kiddo."

While Hiraku, Joichirou and Soma now also tried the other things, Kimiko turned to her mother.

"How do you like it, Mom?"

Erina looked up. "So...you formed meat balls and gave them a cheese filling, then your formed potatoes around the meatballs, to lastly bond a bacon slice around them, right?" "You got it!"

"Well it certainly is a nice idea and you translated it quite good into action. But..." There it was, the famous ' _but_ '. With a little sigh, Kimiko took a notebook and a pencil, to write down her mothers critique. "You boiled the Potatoes a little too long."

Erina's tongue was even more sensitive than Hiraku's. Her critiques were spot on and detailed. Kimiko was always asking for them, forever searching for ways to improve her cooking.

It was her ultimate goal to get her mother to not add a ' _but_ '. And someday she would reach it, she was sure.

-.-.-.-

With the arrive of the evening, Kimiko and her family got more and more busy, as more and more people entered their restaurant. One of them being Tadao Moto and his mother.

The fragrance of soy sauce, meat and other things was filling the halls. Various voices were cheerfully chatting in many different conversations, not minding the mild sizzling coming from various pans.

"Aaaah, your Yakisoba is always so delicious!" Tadao beamed. He was one of the few people from school Kimiko called her friends.

Next to him his mother nodded in approval. "You really do improve by each day, Kimiko-chan."

"Thanks Mayumi-san, Tadao-kun." Kimiko hummed but commented right after that. "But you see, I still have a long way to go." Mayumi gave her an encouraging, honest smile. "Oh but I am sure, you will walk that way and reach your goals."

Mayumi Moto was a very friendly woman. She was a childhood friend of Kimiko's father and had often took care of Kimiko and Hiraku when they were younger.

"By the way Kimiko, me and some other people from our class are going to a karaoke bar tomorrow. Want to join in?" Tadao suddenly asked, with expecting eyes and raising eyebrows.

Kimiko turned to him and scratched her head. "Sorry, but I have to help in the restaurant."

As soon as the words were from Kimiko's lips, Tadao sighed. "You always help in the restaurant." "Well it will be my restaurant someday." Kimiko proudly announced. "What's with Hiraku-kun?" Mayumi chimed in. "Well okay then, it's going to be mine **and** Hiraku's restaurant. But still, I at least partly own it."

Mayumi chuckled, while Tadao shook his head. The three did not notice the yellow eyes of Soma, watching them intensely.

"Kiddo! Get over here, will ya? I need help with the Ramen."

"Alright, alright, old man!" Kimiko responded and turned to the Moto's again. "Well, you heard grandpa. Gotta work."

Mayumi nodded, while Tadao mumbled. "...like always." But Kimiko had already turned away and ran into the kitchen.

"Take care of the stock for me, please." Joichirou said without even turning around at the very moment Kimiko took the first step into the kitchen. "Sure thing, grandpa." Kimiko replied and made her way to the work stations.

"Kimiko..." Joichirou suddenly interrupted the silence that had come up.

"Yeah?"

"Do you have the feel there is anyone who can match you in cooking? Aside from your brother and cousins?"

Kimiko cocked her head over this strange question and shrugged. "Sounds Unlikely. I mean, I do have to beat you, aunt, uncle, Hiraku, Mom and Dad. But you're the only ones I know that cook better than me. While my cousins are pretty much on my level, I'd say. Not to sound bigheaded, but I do think I've got quite the skills. I mean, I am the daughter of one culinary genius and the 'God Tongue'. Who is there, that could match me, grandpa?"

All Joichirou did was smiling and simply saying. "Sounded totally bigheaded." Then he concentrated on the ramen.

Later that evening Kimiko was called out of the kitchen again.

"Look who visited us!" Erina laughed. She stood next to a small group of seven people. Two families to be exact.

And Kimiko spotted a familiar face.

"Umeko-chan?" She called out at the sight of the , little girl smiling and fiddling with her dress.

Umeko was accompanied by her parents and a slightly older boy, probably her brother. Then there was another little girl, with black hair and hazel brown eyes, standing between another adult man and adult woman.

"The Hibiki and the Ota family." Erina introduced. The woman next to the black haired little girl spoke up. "Umeko-chan here, visited us today and she brought a truly delicious bento with her. She said something about _Yukihira_ so we decided to check it out."

"We had to tag along of course. You know, find out who gave our daughter that amazing bento." Umeko's mother added.

Kimiko gave the new guests a bright smile. "Well, welcome! I'm so glad I drove your attention to this place. You defiantly won't regret this. Shall I show you a seat?"

Erina chuckled and exchanged meaningful looks with her husband. Both of their eyes said the same.

 _"I'm gonna miss her."_

-.-.-.-

The next morning, Kimiko was awoken early.

She just had been in an amazing dream sequence of a squid befriending a peanut, as her mother's voice interrupted the charming scene.

"Kimiko, dear! Wake up!"

Kimiko felt how her body was mildly shaken.

"Kimiko!"

With a yawn, addressed slowly opened her yellow eyes. She turned the tired face to her mother, who warmly smiled at her. "Good morning, Kimiko."

"Is it already time for school...?" Kimiko muttered, while her eyes nearly closed again. Erina shook her head, mildly amused. "No, you still have holidays."

"Why would you wake me up then?" Kimiko was in mid-way of turning to the side again but Erina's hand stopped her. "Stand up now, will you?"

"Fine." Kimiko yawned defeated and her mother made way for her to get up.

She rubbed her eyes and sighed. "But what's the matter of this?" "We have an important appointment today. Now get dressed and meet me downstairs, alright?"

"Alright, alright." But before Kimiko could ask what this 'appointment' was about, her mother had already left the room.

Minutes later she met her again, as promised downstairs, next to her father who brightly grinned at her. "Good Morning, princess!" "Mornin'" Kimiko smiled back.

"We sadly don't have time to eat breakfast, but your father made you something and packed it for you." Erina explained and gave a small box into Kimiko's hands.

"Thanks but...could you tell me where we are going?" "You didn't figured out yet?" Soma snorted. Next to him Erina gave an excusing smile to her daughter while making hectic gestures to the door. "You'll see, you'll see soon enough. Just ignore your father. But we have to get going now, or else we miss the train!"

With that Erina took her bag and rushed out of the door, Soma and Kimiko followed but talked while doing so.

"What do you mean by 'haven't you figured out yet', huh? What's with that smug talking?""I thought you could guess where we are going." "Hmph! You know what, keep it to yourself. I'll figure out myself." "That's the spirit!"

"Hurry up now, will you? Soma, stop distracting Kimiko!"

"She's the one who started!"

After what Soma called an "amazing sprint", they did reach the train on time and entered it.

Kimiko still didn't knew where they were going. But she had the feeling that it was something obvious, completely obvious, but she couldn't think off the answer somehow. It drove her crazy.

After some time Erina announced that they have to get out next station and so they did.

Kimiko then started to follow her parents trough the city life. She curiously looked around, inspecting the thousands of restaurants and what they cooked over there.

Then, her parents stopped.

"Here we are." Erina whispered.

"It's still as huge as it was back then." Soma whistled.

Next to them, the scales finally fell from Kimiko's eyes.

 _Of course._

"Totsuki." She simply called out.

In front of Kimiko was the marvellous, gigantic view of the Totsuki Saryo Academy. Japan's most prestigious cooking school.

Kimiko remembered that she was supposed to transfer into the first year of highschool on Totsuki this year and now that she knew where they had been going, she quickly figured out that today the transfer exam was probably hold. Well how could she know beforehand? Nobody told her the date!

But she had to admit that the transfer hasn't been the number one thing on her mind either.

She didn't expected too much from the school, it was more like a stepping stone on her way to the top, to her.

Hiraku was sent here out of the sudden too last year and would begin his second year this year.

"Seems like the enlightenment has hit you, princess." Soma's chuckle interrupted her thoughts. "Well, the transfer exam is hold today. Don't worry..."

His grin got wide and he looked at Erina in a way that Kimiko didn't quite understood. "...you'll make it trough that within an eye blink. It's not very hard."

Erina let out a little growl but then turned to Kimiko. "We still wish you good luck tough. Just enter the gates, one of the staff members will bring you transfer candidates to the exam location."

Kimiko nodded and looked at the gate.

Well, time to take on that Academy!

"See you, later!" She waved and then ran off the the huge gates. She was kind off excited. Knowing that she could show of her skills, always excited her.

Soma and Erina watched their daughter with a laughter.

"There our little princess goes, not even knowing what kind off ride she just signed up for." Soma stated and looked at his wife. But her eyes were glued on the nostalgic sight. "This is...where we first met remember?"

"How could I forget? You being all 'God Tongue' and 'Disgusting'. Wonderful memories." She gave him a light, playful punch. "Gosh, when will you ever get over that? I apologised enough." "You think so?" "Yes, I do."

They both giggled and then turned their heads to the gate again, both silently wondering about what challenges, risks and people their daughter would met on the school which was so full of all three things.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 _Hope you enjoyed it and that I can greet you again in Chapter 2!_

 _Thanks for reading, have a good day and see ya!_


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

 _Hello,_

 _yeah the update came slightly faster than I expected. To be honest..I think he updates will continue in this pace for now...I won't promise anything but you see, now that summer is around the corner, school life is rather relaxed and I also have all my exams finished already. So I do have time._

 _However as soon as Autumn reaches, updates will probably get rarer._

 _I do hope, I get over the Introduction Arc during summer._

 _So well, have the second Chapter which introduces a new character (or a familiar one, if you already read the story before I started revising it)_

 _Mhm, I hope you will have fun reading the new chapter and reviews are always appreciated, remember qwq_

 **Author's Note End**

* * *

As Soma and Erina arrived at home, they were already greeted by the familiar fragrance of various ingredients being steamed, boiled, fried and what not.

"Good Morning Hiraku!" Soma greeted as he entered the kitchen.

His wife walked past him and took out her mobile phone while doing so. "Good Morning from my side as well, Hiraku. I'm going to help in a second, but I have to phone someone first." She quickly said and then was outside trough the backside door.

Hiraku stopped chopping the mushrooms in front of him and turned to his father. "Mornin'! Grandpa is out on the market. But where have you two been and where's-" He stopped mid-way as the realisation hit him, without his father's help.

"The transfer exam is today, isn't it?" "Got it!" Soma laughed. "Shouldn't you know that, as an Elite Ten member?"

"I guess..." Hiraku shrugged. He wasn't very much of an organised person.

"Well then Dad, do you want to taste a new creation of mine?"

Before Soma could even say yes, Hiraku's lips formed a creepy grin. "I was experimenting a little with ice cream."

His father only mimicked the strange expression of his son. "Oh? Well give it to me then."

And with that a blue canister was handed to Soma.

Outside Erina shook her head as she heard her husband exclaiming. "Bwah! Disgusting! Squid with Chocolate Ice Cream!" Followed by laughter from both Soma and Hiraku.

"They're at it again.." Erina sighed into the phone, but the other party didn't failed to hear the little smile on Erina's lips.

"Oh my, you're still in love like on the first day!" A female voice teasingly giggled. Erina only rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, I hope you chose a good examiner for today." Erina then said, which resulted in a "Hmph" from the other person.

"Of course I did! You should have more trust in me, Erina! I do this job for quite some time now." Then there was another chuckle. "Don't worry, I didn't organised some haughty girl, who couldn't admit the food from the love of her life, because she was too proud."

Erina's face went red. "When will you two stop with that already?! Also who are _you_ calling haughty, huh?!"

"Ah~, you never fail to disappoint me with your reactions, Erina! But real talk now, a skilled examiner will be there. It's just on your daughter and if she will pass."

"Of course, she's going to, don't be ridiculous. Well, do I know the person examining?"

"Oh, yes you do. I got the very best for this task." And with a last smirk Alice Nakiri hung up.

* * *

 **The Second Plate - Entering the battlefield with sharp claws**

* * *

"It...It is impressive..." Kimiko muttered to herself.

The honey-blonde teenager was currently walking on the grounds of Japan's most famous cooking school, Tōtsuki. While she followed the plan handed to her, her head turned left and right to inspect her surroundings.

The plan lead Kimiko to the location where the entrance exam would be held. Compared to some other places in this academy, that one was not very far away and still easily reachable.

"Boy, is this all luxurious here." Kimiko mused, as her eyes trailed over the expensive looking facade. She found herself in some kind of garden. While it wasn't that big, it still looked like a garden you would only find behind an European castle.

The whole thing was surrounded by a building, of course build out of high class material. Many huge gates lead into the inside of it, however, they were protected by men and women in suits, who didn't let anyone trough just yet.

The other transfer-candidates completed the scenery perfectly, as Kimiko noted. They wore school uniforms from expensive looking private schools, were escorted by bodyguards and all held a prideful expression.

Kimiko felt out of place, wearing the school uniform from a common, public school and not having any limousine or bodyguard behind her.

She couldn't even show off some golden or silver jewerly, like the most other girls she saw.

"Pfh, jewerly is unnessacary when cooking..." She then simply stated out loud and made her way to a bench.

But of course someone had heard her.

Just as Kimiko sat down and wanted to start thinking about new recipe ideas, she heard footsteps nearing her.

Within seconds a girl in her age stood in front of her.

The hair was brown and wavy, also the girl wore a black ribbon in it. Magenta coloured eyes were surrounded by long, deep black eyelashes.

She played with one of her golden earrings and looked at Kimiko like a princess about to order a kill for someone who was not following her orders.

Kimiko simply stared back, with an unimpressed, nearly bored expression, wondering what that girl could want from her.

For several minutes the two teenagers just looked at each other, both expecting the other one to say something. Then the brunette finally spoke up. "'Jewerly is unnessacary when cooking', nice way of saying that you just can't afford it."

Her voice was sharp and soaked with arrogance. "Hah?" Kimiko replied. "It is. You're cooking, not applying for a fashion show. Bracelets and all that stuff is just in the way. Even my aunt, who loves Jewerly, takes them off when cooking."

"Tch..." The brunette was at a loss of words for some seconds. She just couldn't believe it. This girl was truly a commoner. Couldn't afford Jewerly, had no bodyguards or limousine and the school uniform doesn't seemed to be the one of a private school.

"Let me ask you, do you even know who I am? Other people would already consider it blessing, when I just glance into their direction."

Kimiko tilted her head, now slightly annoyed. _What was that girl's deal?_

Kimiko never had been the biggest fan of social interaction and this girl seemed unsympathetic from the very start. Couldn't she just leave her alone?

"No. Is it a crime to not know you or what?"

The brunette's cheeks reddened and outraged she snarled. "I am Oshiro Tamae! Heir of the infamous 'Rose-Palace', one of Japan's most known French restaurants."

 _Now she's going to be sorry._ Tamae thought and couldn't help but smirk.

 _Okay, let's just end this conversation._ Kimiko thought and couldn't help but yawn.

"Alright, alright. I'll try to keep that in mind." To underline that for her the interaction was finished, she took her knife case and stood up, ready to walk away.

But Tamae didn't let her. "You'll keep that in mind?! Okay, that's it! You clearly still have no idea who you're talking to you...you...commoner!"

Ah, there it was! That "c"-word.

Kimiko stopped mid way in turning around. "So?"

"So? **So**?! What the hell are you doing here? The word 'commoner' is written all over you and it clearly shows that you are just some girl from the streets! I am still asking myself, who of the staff was so brain dead to let you step into Totsuki."

Now Kimiko faced Tamae again. Her golden eyes had hardened and seemed completely lifeless at that point. Some people who had started to watch the cat fight even backed away a bit. But Kimiko still felt the spiteful eyes of the others burning on her.

Tamae didn't noticed any of that. She was too caught up in humiliating that commoner. "Really, do you really believe you have any chance to get trough here? You may not know it, but this is a high class, exclusive, Elite school where only the very best stand a chance. Look around, all of the candidates gathered here come from well-known gourmet restaurants. And you? Oh, Oh don't say it. I'll guess myself! A diner perhaps?"

The other candidates started to laugh, while Kimiko's face darkened.

Tamae spat. "Well then, let me give you some friendly advice. Go back there and entertain the lower life forms who are satisfied with such second rate work that a diner serves and let _us_ handle the real cooking."

Her earrings and bracelets jingled, as she flipped her brown locks. While the other candidates shallowly cheered for Tamae and exclaimed various words of approval, Kimiko just stood there. Not one inch of her body moved. She stared at the ground and the grip around her knife case hardened.

"Oi!" Tamae snipped her fingers and then put her hands on the well developed hips. "Don't you have anything to-"

The last words got stuck in her throat, as Kimiko finally lifted her head to look into Tamae's eyes.

Yellow was a warm colour, but still her eyes looked so sharp and cold. Kimiko's bangs dived her face into shadow and a dark aura was surrounding the young girl. Her face was pretty much emotionless.

The laughter, whispers and cheers immediately stopped.

A little chuckle escaped Kimiko as she watched how everyone's face became unsettled and slightly frightened. Then she turned her attention to Tamae again, who was absolutely silent for the first time.

"Oshiro-San, say do you have waterproof make-up?"

Confused looks were exchanged in the crowd, while also Tamae raised an eyebrow. "H...Huh?" She said a little more unsure than she wanted it to sound.

But Kimiko just continued to bore her yellow eyes trough the other girl, awaiting an answer.

"Of course I do..." Tamae then finally stammered.

"Ah, that's good to hear." Kimiko calmly stated. "At least you will still look as flawless as now after I stomped you into the ground."

Kimiko's right hand was now being laid over her chest. "Listen hear, all of you! You'll only receive the right to judge my diner, if you manage to beat me in a cook off. Something I..." She giggled. "...highly doubt to be quite honest. So well, please don't brother me with that filthy attitude of yours and just let me finish that entrance exam alright? If you excuse me."

With a swift turn she walked out of the scenery, leaving Tamae and her companions speechless. Nobody spoke out loud what they were thinking, because that would praise that diner-girl and yet all of them had one thought in their head.

 _"Like a queen."_

Kimiko tried to let her mind trail off that unpleasing encounter while walking trough the garden.

"Gosh, if already the candidates act that way, what will the examiner be like?"

Just as that thought stroke her head, a male voice announced. "Transfer Candidates! Put on your cooking uniform in the cabins and then enter the gate assigned to you. Your group is noted on the plan you got at the entrance."

Kimiko looked to the speakers from which the voice had come from and sighed. "Finally.." She looked at her plan. "Group C" was written on it.

"Alright." Kimiko confidently said to herself and then made her way to the cabins.

Even tough she felt eyes burning on her again, nobody talked to her.

-.-.-.-

Tamae couldn't enter the hall assigned to Group C as graceful as she wanted to. She still looked fabulous of course, but she could have looked truly bedazzling.

A little unladylike grunt escaped her, after which she immediately covered her mouth.

That girl. That commoner girl still stuck in her head after all. And it angered the proud Tamae.

What was the deal with that girl either way? She had not been in the slightest way impressed? Did she really whole heartily believe she could make it trough that?

Also why could this simple girl, the same age as Tamae, let shivers trail down her spine.

It was very hurting for Tamae's ego.

 _Just, forget her! As if a diner girl could make it on Totsuki. It's Totsuki we're talking about here, after all._ Tamae convinced herself as suddenly a girl passed her.

Tamae flinched.

She just got completely ignored by Diner-Girl, who didn't even made the afford to turn her head to Tamae. She simply walked past her and only came to a still as she found the right place to stand. Diner-Girl was now dressed in a restaurant uniform, like Tamae herself.

However hers wasn't modelled after the traditional cooking uniform. It was rather a blue shirt and black pants. An apron was tied around her waist and the white letters on her back read _Yukihira_.

 _Of course she got into the same group as me. Also how dare of her to ignore me!_ Tamae ranted in her head, while shooting despised glares into Kimiko's direction.

 _Wait! What an opportunity! Then I am going to show her now, why she doesn't fits into this place._

Immediately Tamae's pride was restored and elegant she made her way next to some handsome, black-haired guy in a pure white chef uniform.

Just as she wanted to say "Hi", the crowd stiffened and all conversation was immediately stopped as they heard footsteps.

 _The examiner!_

Tamae set her focus to the front, so did Kimiko.

Then a young girl, the same age as everyone else in the room, entered.

Kimiko's eyes widened in surprise, but a happy smile spread on her face at the same time.

She was the only one, with a rather positive expression.

Everyone else's heart pretty much stopped for a second.

Their faces now showed shock and disbelief. Some even started to sweat.

The girl in front wore the school uniform, but not the one for girls, no. She wore the boy's uniform. Her hair was short, wild and black. Notable is that the left bang was longer than the other one, creating an asymmetrical but still stylish look. The girl's eyes were red and intimidating and while her lips formed a playful smirk, one of the two pale hands played with the ying-yang-necklace that the girl was wearing.

Slowly the first shaky whispers could be hear within the crowd.

"It cannot be..."

"She's...she's..."

"We're gonna be examined by..."

"Nakiri Lola..." A guy near Tamae muttered. "Alongside her twin sister Mona, she's the daughter of Nakiri Alice, the headmistress of Totsuki. A true genius when it comes to Molecular Gastronomy and Seafood."

Tamae knew her as well and couldn't help but shiver a little.

This girl was the daughter of Totsuki's director! She certainly was a powerful and skilled chef. More powerful than Tamae will ever be.

"Lola!" A joyful voice suddenly interrupted the anxious ones.

All heads turned simultaneously to Kimiko, who happily waved to their examiner. To everyone's shock the examiner's rather sinister expression had changed to a gleeful one as well.

"Kimiko!"

It was dead silent as everyone else in the room tried to comprehend what they just witnessed.

Especially Tamae couldn't find any logic in it and hoped her eyes fooled her.

Why was Diner-Girl so casual with Lola Nakiri? Even referring to her with first name, not even adding any suffixes. No way! This had to be a dream!

Meanwhile Kimiko and Lola exchanged grins and simple nods. Without any word, they agreed to do all the talking later on.

Lola turned her head to the crowd again, giving everyone a light heart attack as she began to talk.

"Good Day, everyone and welcome to the transfer exam! For those who live under a rock and don't know me: my name is Nakiri Lola and I'll be your examiner today."

Now it was official.

A lot of the candidates still had held on to that ridiculous and small hope, that Lola would not examine them. That she was just some show act, Totsuki brought in to impress.

Lola took out a sheet of paper and waved it around, like a child wanting to show their parents some information they got from school.

"Well I read the rules and conditions for the exam, this morning...but..."

She simply tossed the paper away and smiled innocently. "It's way too boring."

 _Good, old Lola._ Kimiko thought, not even noticing the despair in the other candidates' eyes while watching the paper slowly sink to the ground.

Everyone just wished they could wake up from this nightmare. The atmosphere in the room was thick and tense, nobody said a word either.

Lola snapped her fingers. "So, I thought something up instead!" Her head turned to the doors. "Bring the ingredients in!"

While various workers followed Lola's request, she started to elaborate the task.

"The exam will be held, in form of a competition!" She didn't left the candidates any time to go all "Huh" and "What" and cheerfully explained further. "Means only one of you will make it into Totsuki and that's the one who manages to beat the rest with his dish. The judge will be me of course."

She received nothing but distressed faces. Nobody could believe what thy just heard.

Just one free spot?

And they had to compete over it?

Kimiko on the other hand was excited and couldn't help but glance over to Tamae, who held the same shocked expression, everyone else held.

Lola was not in the slightest bothered by the scenery of fright before her. "As I am going to be the one tasting, I chose a main ingredient, I am really starving for right now."

They heard the sound of rolls coming down the hall way and to everyone's amazement a water tank was rolled into the exam place.

Lola made a arm gesture towards the tank, presenting it. "Crab!"

The tank did contain all sorts of crab, swimming car free around in the blue and a "Wow" escaped Kimiko. She spotted Blue Crabs and Brown Crabs, but there were certainly more, she just couldn't identify.

The rest of the audience was in panic.

"No way, a seafood dish for the seafood master?"

"She must be used to the best of skills, her father is Nakiri Ryo after all!"

"I am never going to make it."

The guy next to Tamae lifted his hand. He was absolutely pale and looked like he was about to throw up. "Ms. Nakiri!"

"Hm?" Lola stopped watching the crabs doing their thing and faced the guy. "What is it?"

"I...I...I am sorry...but..." The guy stuttered. "Isn't...Isn't...that against the rules? Having just one of us making it trough the exam?"

Tamae gasped and also the other candidates turned to the guy, questioning his sanity. Lola tiled her head. "What's your name?"

"Kita Haru."

"Well, then Kita Haru..." If Lola had looked sinister before, she now looked threatening.

Her red eyes glowed, she smiled darkly and tapped her chin.

She looked a bit like Kimiko had before on this day.

"Thank you for being the example of how to not enter Totsuki. You failed and can go home now, good day." Her voice sounded friendly, but still made everyone shiver.

Haru's eyes became blank. "Wha.."

Now even Lola's smile disappeared and she looked at him coldly. The icy tone, matched the chilly appearance she suddenly had. "Look, if you already now back away from competition, Totsuki is not the place for you. You will basically go down. And this exam is about finding out if one of you is Totsuki material, right? Well, you clearly are not. Bye-bye and good luck on your further path."

While Haru sunk to the ground, Lola's former attitude came back and she clapped her hands together. "Well then, if that's it with the questions, we can start now, right? Begin cooking!"

Swift and elegant she slid away to make way for the storm of hectic and pressured chefs making their way to the ingredients.

 _I'll think I will go with Blue Crabs_ , a way calmer Kimiko made up for herself and started to head into the direction of the water tank.

It was hard reaching some of the ingredients trough the mass of nervous teens, but at some point Kimiko had made it. She could gather everything she needs and laid it onto her workstation.

Kimiko was just about to get started, as a familiar voice made her look up again. "Oh Blue Crab it is?"

Lola had bend over the working station, resting the head on her hands and inspecting the Blue Crabs closely.

Her red eyes met Kimiko's golden ones as the transfer candidate greeted her. "Well, hello Lola."

The two of course didn't minded the confused looks, that were given to them and Lola just continued the chat.

"Good day to you as well, Kimiko." She smirked. "Nice to see, that Uncle Soma and Aunt Erina sent you to Tōtsuki at last."

Kimiko hummed in response and casually asked afterwards. "Well how are Aunt and Uncle doing? And where's Mona by the way? It's so rare to see you without her."

"You forgot to ask how I am doing!" "You're doing absolutely fine, as I see."

Whispers started to go trough the crowd.

"Uncle..? Aunt...?!"

"Don't tell me they're..."

"...cousins..."

"No way, Diner-Girl can be related to a Nakiri! That doesn't make any sense!"

"Hey, she never did officially confirmed that she's from a diner...maybe she is a high class cook!"

"Why haven't I heard of her then?"

"Huh?" All the sudden noises finally caught Lola's attention and she span around to face the others. Her face now showed an innocent expression, as if she couldn't understand why the people are wondering.

Then she giggled. "Oh! Well..." She pointed to Kimiko, who raised an eyebrow to her. "This is Yukihira Kimiko and yes, we are related. Our mothers are first-degree cousins, which makes us second-degree cousins."

Kimiko didn't added anything and just started to work. Lola nonchalantly turned away from the uproar of "What?!" and "I can't believe it!", to talk to Kimiko again.

"What will you make by the way? You know, I won't treat you special, just because we're family...I hope you know that." "Well I would be disgraced if you would." Kimiko responded and grinned afterwards. "And you'll see soon enough, what I will be making."

Lola crossed her arms, swirled around and walked away pouting. Her face showed a smile again as she sat down in the front tough.

At the same time, some candidates couldn't help but admire the skills Kimiko just showed off.

Fast but concentrated she moved around her workstation. Just one of her crabs, didn't made it into her steamer and was put on a grill. While that was going on, Kimiko cooked her rice in a pan with butter and it sizzled as she added white wine to it. With an astonishing pace she cut trough asparagus, onions, garlic and avocados.

"Seeing her cooking, she does seem to be talented.." One of the other ones mumbled.

-.-.-.-

The transfer candidates for Totsuki were in distress. More than half of them, already heard the words "Not good enough" from Lola Nakiri.

Not one of them, had met her expectations yet. Well, how in the world could you? She was used to the very best!

"Argh, this really is Totsuki Level, I suppose..." "But man, this exam is so hard.." The students whined.

Also Tamae had sat into the corner and was still trying to comprehend what happened.

 _"This is just plain crab soup. Nothing special."_

 _"But...it's made with King Crabs!"_

 _"And? Just because you used a rather luxurious item, it doesn't makes the dish automatically better. It lacks originality, something you need on Totsuki."_

Everyone looked up, as Kimiko made her way to the examiner. Balancing a tablet on her fingertips.

The honey blonde passed Tamae and before she could walk on, Tamae called her name. "Yukihira-San!"

Kimiko stiffened, came to a still and took a look back.

Trying not to be insecured by Kimiko's unsettling uninterested expression, Tamae said what she wanted to say. "I eh...wanted to apologise for the things I said this morning...You got to understand, I had no idea you were related to Nakiri Lola! You just don't look like that, you know?"

Kimiko raised an eyebrow. Before Tamae could say more, she looked straight forward again and stated. "Well, I am sorry but I don't understand." And walked on.

Lola was currently watching the left over crabs in the tank again, probably thinking of new dishes to make out of them, as Kimiko arrived in the front.

"Lola!" She called out to seek her examiner's attention.

"Oh Kimiko, you're done?" Lola questioned the obvious, resolving in a nod from Kimiko.

The plate was placed in front of Lola. The first thing she noticed were the four small bowls, placed within a...risotto? Yes a Risotto. And the bowls contained four different sauces.

The pile of rice was surrounded by a circle of croquettes and one single blue crab, laying on the side.

"Where's the crab in that dish, did she just lazily laid it on the plate?" One of the other candidates muttered.

"I present: Blue Crab Croquettes with four different Dips."

Kimiko grinned.

"Let it hopefully satisfy you!"

Lola took her chopsticks. "Well then, let's see Kimiko..."

Everyone was watching curiously as Lola tasted the dish. Even the people, still cooking stopped what they were doing to get a glimpse of what reception Diner-Girl would get.

After minutes of silence, Lola then finally gushed. "Ahhhh, nice!"

Looks filled with various emotions were exchanged within the audience.

This was the first time Lola reacted that way.

"The croquettes are filled with steamed crab meat and work perfectly with the four dips, creating various ways to enjoy them! Say, what dips did you used?" Lola complimented Kimiko.

"Well, one is Ponzo-Sauce. The other is a dip out of Garlic and Chiles, the next is a Ginger-Lemongrass Dip and last but not least an Avocado Dip." Kimiko answered.

Lola continued her praise. "The risotto adds such a nice element as well." "I added some garlic, asparagus and white wine."

Kimiko ate a lot of Risottos in her life, her father loved to make these.

"And the crab on the side...?" "Grilled!" Kimiko laughed. "You can eat it with the Risotto or with one of the Dips as well. Just a little side element I brought in."

And so Lola did and judging by her face she was satisfied. She suddenly looked quite innocent again with her eyes closed and a happy, honest smile on her strawberry pink lips.

"She's the first one to impress Nakiri Lola!"

"She really is related to them!"

In the shadows Tamae sunk to the ground.

This certainly wasn't much of her day.

She failed the transfer exam for Totsuki and next tot that, she had also insulted a relative of Alice Nakiri.

-.-.-.-

The transfer exam was over and everyone knew who had made it.

"The transfer goes to: Yukihira Kimiko!" Lola made the obvious public. Kimiko had been the only one, who could make Lola smile.

As everyone else left in a gloomy manner, Kimiko wanted to tack along as well but Lola hold her.

"Oh you wait, Kimiko! Where you think you're going? You going to spent the evening with us!"

She winked and pointed at herself. "But the..." Kimiko wanted to counter but Lola didn't accepted any other options.

"I'll call Uncle Soma!"

With an approval of Soma, Lola, as so often, got her way.

So the two girls entered a limousine and drove off to the Nakiri Mansion, as Kimiko's first day on Totsuki was officially over.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 _For the dish presented in here, I watched every crab battle from "The Iron Chef" that could be found on Youtube. The problem is, I absolutely lack creativity and just can't craft dishes out of my newfound knowledge qwq But I tried..._

 _(really, if there's anyone who wants to help me...please say so!)_

 _Also I drew heavy influence from an article on a website called saveur .com; called "Six Perfect Sauces For Crab"_

 _Thanks a lot, a lot for reading and I hope I can greet you again next chapter!_

 _Have a wonderful morning, day, evening, whatever time it is over where you live and bye-bye_

 **Author's Note End**


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:**

 _Hello and welcome back to this fan fiction here, glad to have you._

 _I'm gonna be honest, the struggle for this chapter was real. That's why it took so long. I don't even know what was so off, but I started over and over and over. The beginning was intentionally something completely different than it is now, but well._

 _I'm glad I could finally update and next update is probably (?) going to be way more faster actually._

 _But well, before we start...I'd like to reply to some reviews I've got._

 **DrHarleyQuinzel:** Well that's nice to hear, thank you very much. I'm very glad to hear, that the pacing is rather better now...as this is one of the things I am always a little unsure off

 **Guest:** Oh! Thanks for that info, I'll edit it in right away. You see, I myself actually don't have any first-degree cousin and just two second-degrees and I actually always wondered what to call them, so thanks again. And well, I am really glad you like the story, thanks for reading it.

 **Anon:** Well, glad you like the FF. Hm, actually I don't really want to set how often I update. It's rather irregular and in the future it defiantly will be possible that I don't update for months sadly. But recently I got some time on my hands. So updates will be rather fast.

 _Thanks for the Reviews!_

 _And now, let's start, I guess..._

 **Author's Note End**

* * *

The fingertips of the man stopped typing, as his nose smelled the welcoming fragrance of cooked food coming from the kitchen and reaching his room. With a smile, he finished his e-mail and stood up to make his way downstairs.

"Rainbow Terrine, Tenerezza?" The brown-haired male questioned happily. His blue eyes were closed, he was very tall and build rather corpulent. On his lips was a wide, loving smile which was dedicated to the woman who flinched a little at the sudden voice.

"Huh? Oh! Well yes..." She laughed and turned her head to the man. The woman had deep blue hair and warm, yellow eyes to contrast the cold colour of the braid she had tied her hair into. She was notably shorter than the man infront of her and build rather petite.

"It's his absolute favourite dish. Seeing as this is his last day here till the next holidays, I wanted to do something special." The woman explained further and drew her attention back to the ingredients. But the man was already beside her and let out a hum. "That's very kind of you and a nice idea. Shall I help you?"

The soft chuckles and laughter of the two spread trough the rather silent house. So they also reached the room of a boy, who sat on his bed and watched the snow slowing falling trough the night sky from his window.

The boy's wild hair had the colour of the ocean and his dreamy eyes the colour of the sky. In his arms he held a light blue bunny plush and squeezed it so tightly as if he was afraid someone would rip it out of his hands.

A sigh escaped the young boy and he rested his head against the cold glass of the window.

He muttered. "I wish I could just stay here, forever."

* * *

 **The Third Plate - Enter Hiroshi Aldini-Tadokoro! The Boy with a Voice as sweet as Honey**

* * *

Pink Cherry Blossoms danced trough the winds and disappeared in the clear blue of the sky.

On their way they passed a young teenager, dressed in a royal blue school uniform, who slowly walked towards the huge gates of Totsuki and pulled luggage with him.

His face didn't showed an all too happy expression and his blue eyes were attached to the ground.

However, the yelling of a female voice let him lift his head. "Hiroshi!"

Instantly Hiroshi started to smile and fastened his walk, to reach the girl standing in front of the enormous gate to the even more enormous school.

"Itoko-chan!" He called out and waved.

The girl, he was referring to, was blonde and had tied her shoulder-length hair into a lower ponytail. Her skin was tanned and her body well developed. She wore the female uniform of Totsuki. Sort off. As Hiroshi knew his cousin, she preferred her own interpretation of the school attire: While wearing the checkered skirt, she left ribbon and blue jacket at home. The white shirt, that the students wore underneath, was unbuttoned in her case to showcase a top with the Italian flag on it and the girl's bare belly.

Her eyes had the same colour as Hiroshi's, blue.

With the arrival of Hiroshi a grin had played itself on the full, round lips of the girl. "Ciao." She greeted him.

Hiroshi laughed. "Good day to you too, Itoko-chan! But remember, you're back to Japan now..."

"Non so cosa..." The young girl stopped herself and her cheeks reddened, realising that she was speaking in a foreign language. After she cleared her throat, she stated in perfect Japanese. "I know that."

Hiroshi smiled. "Well it's nice to see you again, Itoko-chan! But come on, we wouldn't want to miss the entrance ceremony, right? Let's search the others."

"Sure thing!" His cousin responded and together they walked trough the gates.

-.-.-.-

"Where the hell are they?!"

Hiroshi's cousin had never hesitated to let out a swear.

The two were walking around the place where the entrance ceremony was held and while a lot of students had already entered, they were searching for their friends.

"I can't see them either." Hiroshi sighed, after turning his head left and right. She grunted. "Unbelievable! This is so typical."

"We'll see them later for sure, so let's just attend the entrance ceremony now." Hiroshi optimistically smiled after one last look around.

"I guess." The girl responded and so the two turned around, to head into the direction where the entrance ceremony for the new highschool was held.

They found it to be already very crowded. The students of their generation stood perfectly lined together and faced the stage in front.

"A lot of people got expelled, huh?" Hiroshi's cousin commented, while he dragged her to a free space. "Come on, Itoko-chan." Just as they had found their place between all the other fresh first years, a boy stepped on the stage.

He had black, proper hair and violet eyes, he wore the school uniform and a cocky expression. He was not all too muscular, but not lanky either. In his hand he held a microphone.

"Hey look! It's Kawashima!" Hiroshi exclaimed and pointed to the host. "Ah! Yes, of course! That makes sense." His cousin next to him retorted, while around the two a lot of girls started to swoon and squeal, much to the annoyance of the boys.

"Good Morning and Welcome back to school, 115th Generation of Totsuki!" The Host in front announced trough the microphone.

A long program followed, celebrating the students for making it into highschool. Some speeches were held and some instructions given. As his cousin started to complain that this was taking too long, Hiroshi hushed her.

"Now let's get the valedictorian on stage, shall we?" The host at some point cajoled. "Please welcome, Hayama Kaori!"

A girl entered the stage and around Hiroshi the whispers and gossips began.

"Hayama Kaori. They call her the ' _Gatekeeper to the Fountain of Eternal Youth_ ' or ' _Youth Preserver_ ' for short."

"She's the daughter of the duchess of Medical Cooking!"

"Her brother is Hayama Akio! The assistance to Yukihira Hiraku!"

"Not to mention, she looks gorgeous. I'd love to date her!"

Kaori Hayama's skin was brown. The soft, light purple of her hair was comparable to the colour of lilacs. She had tied her hair into an elegant bun around which she also had laid a braid. The calm, focused eyes were brown. Kaori wore the standard uniform, but had chose to wear a tie instead of the ribbon, which was intended for girls.

"AH yes, a date with her would be wonderful." A guy next to Hiroshi sighed. "Oh please..." His cousin mumbled from the other side, not noticing how many male students actually glanced her way with reddened cheeks.

In front Kaori had left the stage again and made way for a woman, who's presence alone got everyone to shut up immediately.

Out of fear and respect, Hiroshi's shaky hand grabbed his cousin's. The rest of the crowd was shivering and staring at the woman with widened eyes.

She had medium-length hair which was as white as snow. The left bang was longer than the other one and she had tied it to a little braid. Her skin appeared to be very pale and her eyes were red. She wore quite a lot Jewerly and was dressed pretty fashionably.

Nearly everyone trembled in fear.

"Please welcome the headmistress of Totsuki, Nakiri Alice-sama!"

"It's her!" Someone gasped.

"D...Dubbed 'The Darling of Molecular Gastronomy', she's an absolute genius when it comes to chemical cooking!" Another one stuttered. "She and her husband are pretty much dominating the culinary world!"

Hiroshi clutched his cousin's hand harder. He felt like the others. The presence of Alice Nakiri sent shivers down his spine.

"Good morning!" Alice cheerfully beamed trough the microphone. "Gratulation for your step into high school, dear 115th Generation. Let me speak a few words to you, before you take on the three left over years."

Alice Nakiri did not hesitate. "We will loose more than half of you during those three years. I am not going to sugarcoat anything. This school can only be described as a merciless battlefield and only the absolute best are able to make it trough that battlefield."

She lifted a finger and the smile didn't left her lips. "Middle school was nice, wasn't it? I really hope you remember everything you got from there, because now the real fun will start. These three years of highschool will test your will to live and work as a chef. Competition and challenge are the keywords here and I am going to repeat, that the most of you won't make it."

Now she pointed at the students and raised her voice a little. "But those who do survive, will have all gates to the culinary world opened for them. You will be known as the highest Elite and as incredibly talented. If that's what you dream of, then I suggest you to crack your knuckles and enter the battlefield without any fear. Study hard..." She giggled. "But don't forget to have fun. At last, this is still your passion we're talking about. Enjoy it to it's fullest."

The crowd was silent and watched Alice turning away. "That's all."

As the headmistress had disappeared, whispers began. Alice's words had planted some extra motivation into the students and confidence started to spread on their faces.

 _I'll be one of the few, who will make it!_ Nearly all of them thought.

 _More than half will be expelled._ Was what Hiroshi thought.

"Lastly..."

"Huh?" Hiroshi and his cousin turned their heads to the stage in perfect unison as the host spoke again. "What's left?" Hiroshi's cousin questioned and crossed her arms.

Her question was answered. "We'd like to introduce a student who came here from another middle school." The host made a presenting hand gesture. "Please welcome transfer student..."

The Host looked on his sheet of paper, nodded and faced the crowd again.

"Yukih...Wait what?!" In disbelief he took a look on his notes again and stared at it for quite some time, not minding the confused, expecting looks the crowd was giving him. But at some point he got a clear mind again.

"Y...Yukihira Kimiko..."

Whoever this Kimiko was, she didn't even enter the stage yet as there was already a uproar from the students.

"Yukihira?!"

"Like, Yukihira Hiraku?!"

From the side Hiroshi could note that his cousin's eyes had widened a little as well and she defiantly had not expected that to happen.

Finally a girl stepped on the stage. She was as well developed as Hiroshi's cousin and had wild, honey blonde hair tied into two pigtails. Her eyes were golden as the sun and she wore a grey, sailor-esque school uniform. Around her neck laid a white neckerchief and her face showed a confident smile.

"She does look quite like Yukihira Hiraku, doesn't she?" A girl commented and became the starting gun for a heated discussion. A discussion that was only stopped by Kimiko speaking. "Greetings!" With that, immediately all the attention was on her again.

"Well, don't worry I am going to keep myself short. Hm...but give me a second...Ah yes!" She put her hands on her hips and smiled widely. "I am going to be honest with you! I don't expect too much of this school and I am not planning to fall behind some rich kids who never stood in a restaurant's kitchen once."

Hiroshi's cousin stiffened. "Cosa?!" Hiroshi himself was way too caught up into the speech to drive his cousin's attention to her language switch.

 _What kind of talk was the transfer student giving?_

 _To be that confident?_

 _Or was she just dumb?_

"Without further ado, now that I am here, I will claim the top spot as mine."

Silence. Dead Silence. Hiroshi's cousin clutched her fist, while everyone else tried to come up with what to think about this.

On the one hand, what the girl in front was saying there was absolutely angering and provoking but at the same time, she could be a relative to the newfound genius Hiraku Yukihira. Something that made the most students, who were easy to impress, shut up. However not everyone was like this.

Lola Nakiri for example. She let out an amused giggle and shot a glance to the girl in front. "We'll see, Kimiko, we'll see. But challenge defiantly accepted."

Despite the rather negative reaction Kimiko received, she friendly laughed. "But don't worry, the second place is honourable and admirable as well." The young girl bowed. "I look forward to study with you all for the next three years."

Then she left the stage.

Hiroshi's cousin exploded.

"E 'stata una sfida! Solo aspettare..." She was right about to run on to the stage and throw a tantrum of rage over there, in Italian. Luckily for the other students, Hiroshi held her back.

"I...Itoko-chan, p...please calm down. Also you're speaking Italian again."

"But haven't you heard?! This clearly was a challenge towards me!"

"Itoko-chan...I...doubt that she has any idea of you..."

Meanwhile, Kimiko Yukihira had stepped behind the scenes where she was met by a girl who had crossed her arms and looked at Kimiko almost despising.

The valedictorian, Kimiko recalled.

"You're Yukihira Hiraku's sister, aren't you?" Kaori Hayama asked with a voice that lacked all emotion.

Surprised Kimiko tucked her head. "Hm? Yes I am. I also heard his name in the audience time to time, what's the deal?" Just after these words left her lips, a realisation hit her and a grin spread on her face. "Is he that good?"

For a second Kaori's brown eyes got bigger, but then she immediately closed them and let out a "Tch".

"Listen here, Yukihira. I am not like those other failures in this generation that we call our classmates. I couldn't care less about your brother or his oh-so-amazing tongue. But let me tell you this..."

Her cold, brown eyes pierced trough Kaori's golden ones. Then Kaori decided to leave this place and walked past the blonde transfer student.

"...the first place is mine."

Kimiko spun around to retord something to the walking Kaori, as this had clearly be a challenge. But Kaori didn't let her speak up.

"And if you get into my way, you leave me no choice but to use all of my cooking to make sure your place will be the ' ** _honourable_** second.'" And then Kaori was gone.

"Oh please..." Kimiko muttered, while she clutched her fist.

 _No way, I am gonna loose to anyone here._

-.-.-.-

Madoka Enomoto was known as the kindest teacher on Totsuki. It's not like that she didn't expelled students, but she was said to be friendly and tried her best to avoid expulsion.

She defiantly was the student's favourite.

Next to that Madoka had also been a student of the infamous 92nd Generation of Totsuki and even tough she never graduated, being part of the Jewel Generation alone was worthy of admiration. After Madoka had been expelled back then, Takao Miyazato had offered to take the girl under his wing and make a teacher out of her. And now here she was.

"Lucky, Lucky." Lola had pouted as she took a look on Kimiko's school plan. "Enomoto-Sensei is the absolute gold catch."

 _She defiantly looks like a nice woman._ Kimiko noted, now that she stood in her first cooking class and looked at the brown haired woman in front, not minding all the glances she herself earned.

It was the first lesson for the fresh high schoolers and of course Totsuki started with a cooking lesson. "Welcome back to school, everyone." Madoka smiled in front. "I'll be your teacher for this year and I wish you the best of luck for it, as well. Give it your best and show everyone what you're made off! Let's start doing so, by starting our lesson, shall we? Firstly, I'd like you to form pairs."

She sat down on her chair, symbolising that she was giving her students some time to search a partner.

And so they did.

While everyone else immediately stepped to their friends, Kimiko stood there alone, looking left and right. She also noted how all of her classmates avoided talking to her. Kimiko could not think of a single reason why tough.

Just as she wanted to ask Madoka if she could just simply pair Kimiko up with someone, Kimiko spotted a boy standing all alone. He had wild, deep blue air and bright, light blue eyes. His chef uniform was a standard pure, white one and he was pretty tall. The boy stood there and fiddled with his hands, looking to the ground.

Kimiko walked up to him.

"Hi."

Surprised by the sudden noise, the boy flinched before turning to face Kimiko. Judging by how his eyes got a little bigger, he immediately recognised her. "H...Hello.." He then stuttered in a warm, light voice.

"Yukihira Kimiko, the transfer student." Kimiko reintroduced herself, even tough it was clear that the boy knew. "Want to partner up?"

"Y...Yes why not?" He then held out a hand and gave her an unsure, little but cute smile. "I am Aldini-Tadokoro Hiroshi. The most just call me Tadokoro tough, but Hiroshi is totally fine as well."

Kimiko took Hiroshi's hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you then, Hiroshi-kun!" "Pleasure is on my side, Yukihira-San."

Kimiko giggled. "You know, Kimiko is okay as well." But before Hiroshi could add anything, Madoka Enomoto stood up. "So, seems like you all found a partner. Well then, let's get to the task alright?" Hiroshi and Kimiko watched their teacher going to a closet. Madoka opened it and revealed it to be full of glasses which all contained a thick, golden liquid. The students gasped.

Honey.

"As you can see, our school received a lot of honey recently. Let's put it into use! Your task for today is...making a dessert using this honey."

Relief spread on the faces of her students. "That's not very hard, we'll just serve Greek Yogurt." Kimiko heard a boy near her saying. _Very creative._ She sarcastically retorted in her head.

"So..." The voice of Hiroshi interrupted Kimiko's thoughts and she turned her head to face him. "...what are you planning to do, Yukihi...Ki...Kimiko-San?" "Don't know yet, let's look at the Honey first." Kimiko responded and the two started moving.

Hitoshi felt all the eyes burning on him, Kimiko in front of him didn't seemed to mind. "Aldini-Tadokoro?" She suddenly asked, without facing him. "Y...Yeah?" "Well, that's not a full Japanese name...are you..." Hiroshi knew this conversation too well, he had thousands of those. Out of instinct, he immediately answered. "Yes, I do have family in Italy. However, I myself am just quarter Italian, as my father is half Italian and my mother is full Japanese."

For a second it was silent. Then Kimiko swirled around and looked at Hiroshi with a bright grin, giving him a light heart attack. "That's great news actually!"

Even tough they already were near the closet with the honey inside, Kimiko grabbed Hiroshi's hand and pulled him back to their workstation.

"Italians are great with Ice-Cream, aren't they?" Kimiko seemed to be quite excited, as she had reddened cheeks. "Huh? Gelato? Yes, that's quite popular in Italy." "Perfect! Then, Hiroshi-kun you'll be in charge for the Gelato! I know what we're going to make."

While Kimiko elaborated her idea to Hiroshi, Madoka watched them trough her round glasses.

 _Yukihira. Wasn't that the transfer student who challenged the whole school back then? I heard he became the first seat in the very end and then vanished together with God's Tongue Nakiri Erina._

 _...could it be?_

Madoka didn't had much to do with either Soma Yukihira nor Erina Nakiri, in her school days. So she didn't knew a lot about them. But the feel, that Kimiko Yukihira was connected to them, didn't left her.

 _I am curious about what she will serve._

-.-.-.-

Hiroshi ran to one of the cooled rooms. While doing so, he only had one simple word on his mind.

Ice Cream.

Kimiko had given him one task and he'd make sure, he would not mess up. Hiroshi would act as a great sous chef! Like he was to his cousin!

Of course, they didn't had that much time for Hiroshi to make ice cream himself, but Madoka allowed him to use some of the ice cream of the Academy. For sure, Hiroshi knew that he needed yogurt flavour and then he would just take other flavours with him as well to let Kimiko decide.

Finally the young boy reached one of the cooled rooms and gathered what he needed, to rush back into his class.

"Kimiko-San!" He called out. The honey blonde turned around. "Oh Hiroshi-Kun! Back already?" "Y...Yes." Hiroshi placed the ice cream on the table. "I got an idea for the yogurt, I will take care of that. But I also brought you some other flavours, in case you have some other ideas."

Kimiko inspected the ice cream and said. "Thanks, but you know...you can also choose the other flavours if you want." Hiroshi just let out a nervous laughter. "Oh no, I'll pass that choice on to you, if you're okay with it. It's your idea after all and I don't want to mess up." Kimiko shrugged. "Okay then, if you say so."

-.-.-.-

The thing with Madoka Enomoto was, that she looked way more on how well the food was cooked than on the creativity behind it.

And so the simple Greek Yogurt with Honey made it to a B. Something Monsieur Chapelle, another teacher on Totsuki, would never have given.

On other schools, Madoka's kindness probably would be mocked by the students, but on Totsuki it was a welcoming diversity.

However, some students did not want to simply benefit from Madoka's ways and go the easy way. They wanted to take risks and show what they really could do. One of them was Kimiko Yukihira.

"We're ready for judgement, Enomoto-Sensei!"

The brown haired teacher looked up and met the sight of a confidently grinning Kimiko next to a more timid Hiroshi. A bowl with ice cream was placed in front of Madoka.

"Mixed Ice Cream with Tarts. Let it hopefully satisfy you!"

Madoka gave the pair a warm smile, before taking the spoon in her hands. "Thanks for the food."

 _As soon, as the cold ice cream melted in her mouth, the teacher found herself in a ball gown. The dress had black and white stripes on it and she felt wings spreading on her neck. Around her waiters and waitresses, also in a black and yellow attire, brought her tablets with an Middle Eastern dessert on it._

 _The Middle Eastern dessert which was cut into small pieces and mixed into the ice cream._

"Baklava!" Madoka exclaimed back in the real world. As the head of the Miyazato-Seminar, she of course knew what the so called Baklava was. "A sort of small cake from the Middle East. It uses sirup and nuts."

Kimiko nodded. Her grandfather loved these things, so she memorised the recipe perfectly. "We worked with honey except off sirup and as nuts we used walnuts."

"The ice cream pairs so well with it, what is it?" Madoka asked. "Well one is lemon flavoured and the other vanilla. But the last is Yogurt, into which Hiroshi-kun also mixed Honey." "Inspired by the popular combo of Greek yogurt and honey." Hiroshi mumbled a little unsure.

Hiroshi's and Kimiko's classmates were staring at the duo. Whispers had begun. "The transfer student's skills...they're good..." "Maybe she really is..."

In front Madoka gushed. "This dessert is so sweet but somehow brings royalty with it as well. From all the dishes, I have eaten today, this truly is the best. It's the Queen Bee of Honey Dishes! You two get an A."

Gasps went trough the crowd. Madoka had never proclaimed a dish as "the best she had eaten today".

"Glad you liked it." Kimiko laughed, while Hiroshi bowed next to her and stuttered. "Thank you very much."

The two returned to their workstation, lots of eyes burning on them.

"She is related to him...I am sure now..."

"Amazing!"

"...too bad that the lame one of the Aldini Cousins got to work with her first."

Kimiko either didn't heard or didn't wanted to hear, whatever it was, she normally talked to Hiroshi. "Good work today, Hiroshi-Kun. It was nice working with you, we should do that more often." "Ye...Yeah.." Hiroshi stuttered way to fast. "You're amazing Kimiko-San! What a splendid idea you had. It was a pleasure working with you."

Kimiko laughed. "Seems like we make a good team."

As the lesson was over, the two separated. Hiroshi went to search his cousin, Kimiko went to search her next class in this huge school.

While doing so, she suddenly remembered something and hit her head. "Damnit! I should have asked Hiroshi-Kun, if there's any supermarket around! I still have to do that entrance test or so this evening." She sighed.

"Well I guess, I just have to find the supermarket myself then."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 _Yeah, Takumi and Megumi didn't ended up in this fan fiction, as you probably figured out already._

 _The reason I bring this up so early, is because people actually suggested to me to go with a TakuMegu Fanchild when revising the story. And I gave it some thoughts, but did not end up actually doing it for a few reasons:_

1\. I just don't ship Takumi and Megumi that much. They're cute and all and I know they're probably each other's end game. but there are just many more Takumi-ships and Megumi-ships that I enjoy way more and have way more fun to write. Sorry...

2\. Hiroshi and his cousin were already created, before Takumi and Megumi showed serious signs to sail. And it's also very hard to let go of these characters, as they are designed to be fanchilds of other certain pairs. And even if I would make Hiroshi a TakuMegu fan child; I had to make some changes in his characters...that would be...eh...for me?

3\. I really tried, but I somehow find a TakuMegu Fanchild quite hard to write? (Probably because I don't ship them so much) And I just couldn't find my fun in it, so sorry.

 _Really, I am sorry to some of you, who might be disappointed now but well. Maybe there will be another Next Gen Fanfiction someday._

 _By the way, other important notes._

 _Hiroshi's cousin's name is not "Itoko", that's just Japanese for "cousin". Her name isn't revealed in this chapter (even tough many of you probably know it already), inspired by typical early SnS Manga ways. (Remember Ryo's and Hisako's names weren't said until the Autumn Election Premlins)_

 _Onto the Italian! I am not Italian and I do not speak it. However, I will chim in some Italian here and there, simply because I find it to be such a beautiful language._

 _However, my only source is Google Translate...so if there's something off and you actually do speak Italian, please tell me qwq_

 _Onto the translation to the Italian in that Chapter:_

 **Tenerezza** \- Tenderness, Fondness, Sweetness (something in that way, I read it to be some sort of nickname you can give your beloved ovo;;)

 **Non so cosa**... - I don't know what...(her next words would have been something in a way of „...you're refering to?")

 **Cosa** \- What

 **E 'stata una sfida! Solo aspettare...** \- It was a challenge! Just wait...

 _By the way, the dish in that chapter was thought up by me, so I can't state any sources today qwq_

 _I hope it was not too strange_

 _Also Madoka is not an OC of mine, she's an SnS Character. If she doesn't rings a bell in your head, just look her up, I guess...if you want._

 _Well, now that this long long Author's Note is over_

 _I thank you for reading and I hope that I can greet you in the next chapter again,_

 _have a wonderful day and bye._

 **Author's Note End**


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:**

 _Hi!_

 _As I said, since the holidays are nearing...I do have some time now._

 _So I'm glad to be able to welcome you back and I hope you will enjoy the new chapter._

 _But first, a few review replies!_

 **pepe:** Well nice to hear that you like the the story, thank you a lot. About the romance...well, seeing as "Love" is kind off the key element in the Shokugeki no Soma World, I guess I can't come to not write it. I don't have much planned out for the romance yet and it will probably happen rather later in the story. Like very later. Following how the Original does it. But if there are certain characters you'd like to end up, please say so...I'd love to hear

 **Kuro no okami 23:** Glad you like it and thanks for your review. Onto your offer, I like...really need help with the culinary side of this fan fiction (especially this chapter shows...), so if you could give me some tips there that would be very very kind. If you also have some ideas for the plot, feel free to tell me...that's always very nice to hear. Other than that. Just PM me, so we can talk a little...I guess (I am really not good at it, tough qwq)

 _Thanks for the reviews, they always mean a lot to me_

 _But well...now let's get started with the next chapter._

 _Happy Reading!_

 **Author's Note End**

* * *

 _"Aunt Alice?"_

 _Addressed looked up as Kimiko entered the office. "Yes, my dear?"_

 _"I just looked at the formulas you gave me and came across this." Kimiko pointed to the sheet of paper in her hands. Alice looked at her expectingly, waiting for her niece to continue._

 _"It reads that I will live in some dorm...Polar Moon or something...and I wanted to ask, is that a mistake? I mean, I thought I would live here in the Nakiri Mansion."_

 _Kimiko's aunt wore that charming, innocent smile which was so typical for her and a sign that she planned something. "Polar Star, Kimiko dear, it's the Polar Star Dormitory." She corrected. "And no, it's not a mistake. In your Totsuki times, you will be a Polar Star resident."_

 _"Huh?! But why? Hiraku lives here as well, doesn't he?" Kimiko questioned. "Hiraku is Hiraku and Kimiko is Kimiko. Don't worry, I signed you up with the best intentions, like a good aunt would and aren't I one? You will have a good time there, I am sure of that."_

That's what Alice had told her on the evening before the first day of school.

And now Kimiko was walking.

And walking.

And walking.

"How can one school, be that freaking big?!" Kimiko asked aloud for herself. She was walking for hours now, carrying luggage and bags full of groceries. Her mission was to reach the so called Polar Star Dormitory. If it existed. Alice had always been a mischievous and playful woman, at the end this was all just a prank from her side.

"If I don't reach anything in five minutes, I am gonna turn back." Kimiko made clear, even tough no could have heard her. She was sure of that since she was now moving around a rather isolated area.

After a, to her, unknown amount of minutes (despite her declaration she didn't even started counting) she did reach a place that could be classified as dorm.

Maybe.

With a lot of fantasy maybe.

Well, it was an actual building, a western one to be exact, which was surrounded by a forest. But the setting sun behind, dived it into a dark shadow. Crows flew around and ivy was crawling up the bricks. Somewhere in the distance you could hear the shrill screech of hens. That all gave off the illusion that it was more a place for ghosts than for students.

"What...the..." Kimiko stuttered.

 _"You will have a good time there, I am sure of that."_

* * *

 **The Fourth Plate - Gathering Around The Moon Once Again**

* * *

As Kimiko opened the heavy door, she was surprised to hear lots of noise from the inside. She would have expected a dead silent, dark hall or something, that would match the appearance the dormitory made from the outside.

But no, lots of different voices reached Kimiko's ears, all caught up in lots of different conversations. As she stepped in, she found herself in a big lighted hall, which was full of students younger than her. There was also a huge staircase leading into the upper part of the building.

The kids around her were probably middle school first years who wanted to enter the dorm as well. But the examiner was no where to be seen.

Kimiko shook her head. She was hungry and exhausted and she still had to do this entrance test. The fact, that she had to wait for attending it alongside noisy middle schoolers, was not that pleasing to her.

"Ah, I am so excited." She heard one of the younglings exclaim. "Me too. But I am scared of the test, I heard it's very hard." "Of course it is, you cannot just simple step into the infamous Polar Str Dormitory without any skills. Only the most skilled find their place here." "Ahh, I wonder what our senpais will be like. Surely they're absolute admirable people, with elegant attitude and astonishing skills."

But suddenly steps were heard from above, silencing the middle schoolers. Kimiko curiously turned her head to the staircase, while everyone else started to stare on the ceiling.

Two young boys appeared on top of stairs. They had been running and stopped for a second. The two were younger than Kimiko but older than the other middle schoolers.

"Got it?" One of the two asked the other. With a smug grin the other held a book high. "What did you expect?" "Perfect. Now let's run! With some luck, we reach the outside before her noticing."

The two began their plan and ran down the stairs where they reached Kimiko and the others looking at them confused. The two boys didn't seemed to mind their existence at all and just rushed to the door.

Before they could open it tough, the House shuttered. "An earthquake?!" Someone shrieked, while the two boys quickly left the house.

 **BAM!**

A few kids flinched. _What the hell is going on?_ Kimiko questioned in her head. Then a loud yell was heard trough the entire house. "Argh! These GODFORSAKEN BRATS!"

One second later, a girl raced down the stairs. She was quite short, but Kimiko noticed that she probably was in the same age as herself. The crowd immediately parted at the sight of her, out of fear she would just run over them if they don't. The girl went outside as well and loudly slammed the door shut behind her.

All the looks laid on the closed door now and nobody knew what to say. Except for Kimiko. "What...was that..." But the Polar Star Dormitory didn't left the new blood enough time to wonder about why two middle schoolers were chased around by one high schooler, as the next oddity was right about to occur.

Without a warning the lights went out. The younglings let out certain gasps of confusion and exchanged flabbergasted looks. Kimiko stood there and started to seriously question either the dorm's or her sanity.

The lights went on again and some of the childs sighed in relief, just to see that now two boys were standing in front of the crowd. Both were in the same age as Kimiko and holding microphones. Kimiko recognised the black haired as the host from today's entrance ceremony.

He also was the one to speak first. "Hello, Hello! Kawashima Hideyoshi here and I welcome you to the..." He took a break, probably having an imaginative drumroll in the head. Then he made a big, presenting arm gesture. "...Polar Star Dormitory! As mentioned, I am the great Kawashima Hideyoshi, Kawashima-Senpai for you, and next to me is..." His voice got a little less enthusiastic. "...Aoki Daisuke."

Daisuke, a brown-haired boy with black eyes, gave an unsure smile and timidly waved. "You ruin the show." Hideyoshi bluntly stated. But Daisuke only responded with an eye roll.

"What kind of clowns are those two?" A boy whispered. "But Kawashima-senpai...he does look pretty charming?" The girl next to him gushed with sparkling eyes. "Hah?!"

They winced as Hideyoshi cajoled into the microphone again. "ANYWAY! You know what you're here for and we know what you're here for. You think you're material for the glorious Polar Star."

Daisuke took the word over again. "It's a sacred tradition that students, intending to join the Polar Star Dormitory, have to attend an entrance test first. Examined by the dorm's warden."

If Kimiko wouldn't have been exhausted and hungry, she would have turned around and leave right this instance as a door was opened and smoke crawled out of it. But it seemed as it wasn't smoke of a cigarette or smoke that indicated fire, like one of the little girls screamed.

Out of the smoke stepped an adult man with brown, slightly wavy hair. He wore a white shirt, trousers and a pink apron with a bear printed on it. His eyes were splash blue and practically sparkled.

"Here he is! Please welcome, the one and only Satoshi-San!"

"Thank you for lending me your smoke." Satoshi smiled into the room he had come from. The room responded with a calm sigh. "Yes, yes...no problem, Satoshi-San." And then the door was closed.

"In what kind of place did I end up, again?" Kimiko muttered for herself.

"Ah, it's truly wonderful to see that there are so many of you considering our beautiful dormitory as new home for the next years. I'm the dorm mother Isshiki Satoshi, but you can call me Satoshi-San, and I welcome you with all my heart." Satoshi said and sounded like he was about to cry because of happiness. He just wanted to continue his speech as his blue eyes suddenly found the golden ones of Kimiko.

Within an eye blink the dorm mother stood before her, giving Kimiko a light heart attack. "Wah!" Satoshi seemed to be used to such reactions and just stammered. "You...you..." Then a wide smile spread across his face. "You're Yukihira Kimiko, aren't you?"

"Huh?" Kimiko blinked surprised. "Your aunt told me that you would come! Oh, how pleasant! Since you're the oldest, I suggest you should attend the test first."

-.-.-.-

The dorm had a quite well equipped kitchen, Kimiko couldn't help but whistle.

Surrounded by three middle schoolers, who were chosen to attend the test aside her her to fasten the process, she watched how Satoshi Isshiki moved to a chair and simply sat down on it. He gave the small group a friendly smile. "Well, what are you waiting for? Begin."

While the three younger ones hesitated, Kimiko immediately rushed to a work place. It was time to earn that room and the earlier she earned it, the earlier she could get some rest.

The blonde packed out the ingredients she had bought and started working right away. She didn't noticed how intensely Satoshi was watching her.

Kimiko was solely focused on the tools and ingredients in her hands. But just as she was about to take care of the salmon, a female voice saying her name disturbed her thoughts.

"Yukihira Kimiko."

Satoshi stiffened. The middle schoolers stopped their cooking for a second. Kimiko turned her head into the direction the voice came from.

A teenage girl stood at the door. She was blonde, had blue eyes and tanned skin. She also wore shorts and a top with the Italian Flag printed on it. Her beautiful lips formed a challenging smirk while she threw a knife into the air, just to safely catch it again. Her presence alone thickened the atmosphere.

"Oh boy..." Satoshi laughed. Kimiko was right about to ask the girl what she wanted, as the girl broke the silence herself.

Everything was silent as she opened her mouth.

And then the words came out.

"Che sorpresa, chi avrebbe mai pensato che avremmo dirci lo stesso dormitorio? Ebbene così sia, bisogna convivere con essa a trovarmi ogni giorno, dopo che vi ho sconfitto, Kimiko Yukihira..."

The thick atmosphere was gone as quick as it had come. It was replaced with an atmosphere of confusion.

"H...Hah?!" Was all Kimiko could respond to the mysterious girl, as she didn't understood anything of what just had been said.

Satoshi stood up and moved next to Kimiko. "Oh my, she probably saw you entering the dorm earlier, I should have predicted it. Your speech at the entrance ceremony probably got her quite fired up. Well, you have to excuse our charming Quarter Italian here. She's back in Japan for just two days now and has spend all of her holidays at home in Tuscany. During her first days in Japan she always switches back into Italian time to time."

"Ah okay..." Kimiko slowly nodded. Another quarter Italian. But at least she had understood the first words Hiroshi had said to her.

The girl seemed to have realised her mistake. Her face was just a tomato by now and she stared at the ground. "Urgh..."

Satoshi was of course immediately next to her and patter her back. "Oh, don't worry, such things do happen. It's not the end of the world, want to try again in Japanese?"

She looked up again and let out one last grunt. Then she talked again.

And Kimiko was surprised to hear perfect Japanese, without any accent attached to it. "Yukihira Kimiko, what I actually intended to do, was to challenge you..." She looked to the side, embarrassed. "But the moment is ruined."

Kimiko actually wanted to turn around again, as she thought the conversation was over with that, but suddenly the blue eyes met hers again and the mysterious girl pointed at her. "However let me tell you this: I won't take your words from the opening ceremony light hearted. You were basically begging for someone to teach you some manners and I will gladly take over this job in a rivalry that your words have brought up. Be prepared, one day..." A little break occurred. "...I'll challenge you to a Shokugeki. And I hope you will come at me with all you got."

Kimiko blinked.

 _"And if you get into my way, you leave me no choice but to use all of my cooking to make sure your place will be the 'honourable second.'"_ Kaori Hayama's words ringed back into Kimiko's head again. She quickly shook them off, but damn, this was the second time on that day that some person, who was not one of her two cousins, challenged her claim for the first spot. She never would have thought that the students here, would be that competitive.

The quarter Italian challenger had turned around by now and gracefully walked away. "With that, all I can say is until we meet again someday, Yukihira."

"Well, that was Mika Aldini." Satoshi introduced the girl as she had disappeared. "Aldini?" Kimiko repeated, thinking about a certain blue-haired boy she had met earlier today. "Yes...yes, a very talented young girl who transferred here in the second year of middle school. Very fiery and passionate, but defiantly a loyal and good friend...but say Kimiko-chan, shouldn't you be cooking?" And with that, the questions what in the name of squid a "Shokugeki" was and also how Satoshi knew about the entrance ceremony, dropped from Kimiko's head and she rushed back to the salmon.

-.-.-.-

Satoshi had a plate with grilled Salmon and a white sauce infront of him. There was also rice with a little bit of garlic mixed into it and vegetables next to it.

"I present Grilled Salmon with Asparagus-Lemongrass-Sauce. Let it hopefully satisfy you."

"Thanks for the food."

 _As soon as Satoshi took a bite, the image of him dancing trough wide fields of grass appeared before him. The freshness of the salmon and the creamy asparagus sauce gave you the image of a cheerful stroll trough nature's green. Not wearing much clothes while doing so, of course._

 _Insects, looking awfully a lot like vegetables, accompanied the jolly dorm mother and then he found what he was looking for. A river, calm and peacefully streaming trough the grass._

 _ ***Splash***_

 _With one swift jump, Satoshi landed in the cold, refreshing water._

Back in the real world, the dorm mother was wearing a satisfied smile. Then all of the sudden, he grabbed Kimiko by the arms, giving her the second light heart attack of the day.

Tears were sparkling in his eyes.

"You...You really are...very talented!" He excitedly sobbed. The middle schoolers blinked confused.

"Wha...What?" Kimiko stammered. Satoshi shot a glance to the children eagerly but also a little unsurely working. "Let's talk outside for a second, Kimiko-Chan."

 _This dorm surely is a weird place._ Kimiko concluded in her head.

"I love this dormitory." Satoshi explained, while walking Kimiko to her room.

He had already handed her the key.

Room 303.

"Since that one certain generation, the dormitory had been getting more attention again, compared to my days. Thousands of students sign up to live here, yearly. I don't want to sound mean, but a bunch of them don't have any talent at all. Estimating this is what the entrance test is there for and you can be proud with yourself. It's rare to get through it in one go."

Kimiko didn't added anything and just listened carefully, till Satoshi stopped in his walk. The two had reached the last floor of the house and stood in front of a wooden door with golden medal sign attached to it, reading "303".

"Well, here we are then Kimiko-chan. Room 303. I'd like to tell you more about dorm life, but I still have to examine the younglings downstairs. Sleep well tonight and..." He chuckled. "...enjoy the party."

"Party?" Kimiko repeated but the dorm mother was already walking away. So the honey blonde decided to shrug it off and entered her new home.

It was a nice, comfortable looking room. It was not all too big but not small either. "Well then..." Kimiko unpacked her stuff and laid herself on to the bed.

She still has not eaten anything.

 _Well, I guess I have to deal with that tomorrow. It's too late to..._

Kimiko's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a hand knocking against the door. Probably her neighbours who wanted to introduce themselves and greet her.

She slowly got up with a grunt and walked to the door not all too enthusiastically.

To her surprise she had two familiar faces in front of her as she opened. One immediately grimaced and the other was as surprised as Kimiko herself.

"Oh Kimiko-San. Good evening." Hiroshi greeted. "Good evening, Hiroshi-Kun. So, you're part of that dorm too?" Kimiko noted how the person next to Hiroshi had turned around, clearly averting Kimiko's gaze. "Oh, I of course wish you a good evening as well." Kimiko just couldn't help but say the following words. "I guess, we meet again, Mika-San."

Now Hiroshi's surprised look wandered to the girl next to him, who immediately spat. "Yeah, yeah...I understand. The line was stupid in the first place. But was that really necessary, Yukihira?" "You know each other..." Hiroshi questioned, but while he spoke the realisation hit him. "She challenged you to a Shokugeki, didn't she? Oh Kimiko-San, I am so sorry. My cousin is just really hot blooded and..." He was interrupted by two female voices.

"I am not hot blooded, Hiroshi!"

"Ah, so you two are related!"

Hiroshi nodded. "Hm? Oh! Yes, we are. Kimiko-San, this is Mika Aldini my cousin." "How come _you_ know her, Hiroshi?" Mika asked the blue haired boy beside her. "Oh we worked together in class." Kimiko answered instead. "Your cousin is really talented Mika-San." Addressed frowned. "Of course he is."

"Wha..Whatever.." Hiroshi interjected in his typical timid manner. "Kimiko, what we're actually here for is to invite you to the welcome party."

 _Ah, that's the party Satoshi-San spoke of._ Kimiko recalled in her head. The idea of a gathering with strangers didn't sounded all too appealing to her, but Hiroshi smiled at her so friendly invitingly, that Kimiko had to give in. With a sigh she stepped out of her room and closed the door behind her.

"I'm ready I guess. Lead the way to...wherever we going..."

Now Mika couldn't help but grin. "Oh we got a place for our parties."

-.-.-.-

Just a few minutes later the trio found themselves in a room defiantly larger than Kimiko's. The walls of the dorm room were completely covered with bookshelves full of literature. There also stood a bed, a table to work (with a high class looking laptop on it) and a small little tea-table with various food. Beside Kimiko, Mika and Hiroshi, the two MCs from earlier, Hideyoshi Kawashima and Daisuke Aoki, sat in the room. Also in the corner there was a male student Kimiko hasn't met yet, holding a bottle with a hand written label on it.

"Okay, Yukihira...how about you tell us a little about yourself." Daisuke shyly said. Kimiko couldn't even answer, because Hideyoshi arrogantly turned to the brown haired male. "Very creative. Why you don't ask more precise questions? Like..." "You don't start a normal conversation like that." Daisuke chimed in. "This is not an interview, after all."

"There they go again..." Hiroshi sighed. "The attention-whore Kawashima and the overlooked Aoki. Best friends and best rivals at the same time." Mika deadpanned. Then she stood up. "Don't you dare fight now! She will throw us out immediately, if we start to ruin her room before she's drunk!"

What followed was a heated discussion between Mika and Hideyoshi, while Daisuke and Hiroshi shook their heads.

 _I shouldn't have come._ Kimiko thought at the sight of two hot heads arguing.

"Want some rice juice, Yukihira-San?" A gentle voice suddenly said and Kimiko turned. The boy who she hadn't met yet had seated beside her. He was a tall fellow, with long, silky, auburn coloured hair, tied to a ponytail. Notable was, that his long bangs hid his eyes perfectly. Kimiko couldn't even catch a glimpse of them. The boy was also wearing a green pullover, grey pants and a charming but calm smile.

The question if Kimiko wanted rice juice, turned out to be a rhetorical one, as the boy simply poured the white liquid into a cup which he handed to her. "I'm..." He then wanted to introduce himself, but Hideyoshi, who quickly rushed next to Kimiko, cut him off. "Hey! Don't just run off, because you can't counter an argument!" Mika barked, but Hideyoshi ignored her. "Oh, can I do the introduction?" He asked the, still nameless, male.

He opened the mouth but Hideyohi didn't even let him speak. "Perfect. Okay Yukihira, this guy here is..."

Now Hideyoshi was the one to get cut off, by the sound of an opening door. Everyone immediately turned their heads and Daisuke hastily jumped from the bed he had been sitting on.

A petite, teenage girl stepped in. Kimiko recognised her as the girl who had been chasing the two boys with the book earlier. The exact same book was in that girl's hand now.

She had rainy black hair tied into a bun, from which some of the hair had loosened. The girl also wore a purely white shirt and a dark blue cardigan over it, to which the light blue skirt fitted. The most dominant feature were the oversized, circle-shaped glasses that covered the girl's teal coloured eyes.

As soon as the girl recognised the scenery in front of her, annoyance spread on her face. "Are you serious?!" She snarled. "It's the first day of school and I just spend hours of running trough the forest in search of my book! Get out!"

 _Ah, the owner of room 205._ Kimiko thought and actually wanted to prepare to leave. But then she noticed how no one, not even Hiroshi, moved a muscle and sat still again.

The rice juice-boy stood up. "Chi-chan, calm down. I know you have to be very exhausted and angry as Morita-Kun and Ota-Kun did their schemes again, but..." He took a step aside revealing Kimiko behind him. "...it's a party for the new girl. Aldini got one as she transferred here, she deserves it too."

At the sight of Kimiko, the girl sighed defeated. "Okay, alright. But I cleaned the place before I had to get my book, so don't mess it up! And no party tomorrow."

"Yes..." Everyone said, but in most cases it didn't sounded all too convincing.

The bespectacled girl turned to Kimiko. "So and you're the new one. Yukihira Kimiko, the transfer student, right?" Kimiko gave her a nod. "Yup. Nice to meet you..." She stopped expectingly, waiting for the girl to introduce herself. She seemed to be right about to do so, but then Hideyoshi opened his mouth again.

"So Yukihira, let me do this for you. No one could do better." Daisuke sighed at that statement, but Hideyoshi ignored him. "The guy without eyes is Ibusaki Yasu. Doesn't talks a lot and is in general very emo and mysterious. His rice juice is awesome tough." Yasu probably rolled his eyes, but that was just an assumption of course.

"The grouchy, little thing next to him is his best friend.." "Grouchy?! Little Thing?!" "As you can clearly see, she's a nerd and your number one source when you want to know about anything." "Nerd?!" "But the lass is awfully whiny, her name is.." "Marui Chieko." The girl now took over herself, clearly disapproving to Hideyoshi's introduction. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Kimiko-cchi." Chieko then said to Kimiko, in a much more friendly way.

"Ki...Kimiko-cchi...?" Kimiko responded bewilderedly.

"You get used to it." Mika said with crossed arms.

"Well, Mika-cchi I have to say, I am excited." Chieko announced. "I mean, isn't that nice? We're three girls of the 115th Generation in Polarstar now! After these three years, we'll be the best of friends, I tell you." She then sighed dramatically. "Can you even imagine, that there was one year in which I was all alone with those guys?"

Mika grumbled. "Yukihira and I are not friends. We're rivals."

"Oh Itoko-chan." An embarrassed Hiroshi buried his head in his hands. Hideyoshi began to laugh. "That's so typical, Aldini."

"Uhm...this dorm seems to be pretty full.." Kimiko now spoke up, having the image of the many middle schoolers trying to enter in her head. "Why you don't hang out with the other Generations?"

"They suck." Hideyoshi stated straight forwardly, but earned a light punch from Daisuke. "Don't listen to him, Yukihira. But well, to answer your question...it's just that the different generations just rather stay among themselves."

"This is also why we use Chi-Chan's room for our gatherings." Yasu chimed in. "She's the only high school first year among us, to catch one of the more bigger rooms."

"Yep." Chieko retorted, clearly irked. "And I _actually_ got it for all my books."

 _Well, this dorm seems to be a place for some extravagant people._ Kimiko assumed in her head.

Just then Daisuke stood up and lifted his glass. "Well, we're all here now. All of Polar Star's 115th Generation Students. And today we welcome Yukihira Kimiko into our ranks."

The others raised their glasses as well.

Kimiko unsurely did so as well. She still didn't really knew what to think about all this, but she also didn't wanted to be impolite.

"For the future of Yukihira and ours as well. Cheers!"

"CHEERS!"

-.-.-.-

"Ha Ha Ha!" Kimiko loudly laughed and took another sip of her rice juice. Not wondering anymore if it really was juice.

The honey blonde was currently watching Hideyoshi dancing to Daisuke's singing and it was very amusing.

"This clearly is a challenge towards us!" Mika shouted into Kimiko's direction. She had become rather emotional after her shots. "We're going next. You sing, I dance!"

"Weeeee!" Chieko excitedly clapped and then let out a shrill laugh. She clutched her fist and grinned. "Go for it! You two." A lot of her books were laying on the floor already and many of plates stood around everywhere. However the girl didn't seemed to mind much anymore.

The only ones not drunk were Yasu and Hiroshi. "Luckily the others are throwing their own parties, we would disturb everyone if not." Hiroshi mumbled. Yasu approvingly hummed in response.

"Come on, Yukihira! YUKIHIRA!" Tears started to collect in Mika's eyes as she saw how Yukihira didn't started to sing but rather stuffed her face full of food.

The first years had cooked beforehand in the kitchens, every room had on their own. Most of the food was from Hideyoshi and Daisuke. But there was also bruschetta from Mika, salad from Hiroshi, smoked cheese from Yasu and Yakitori from Chieko.

Just little snacks, but they still were pretty good, Kimiko noted while eating

"Micha...-chan...am...schorry..." She then brought out to excuse her not singing. After that she started to do so, with a full mouth.

Everyone cheered and with a relieved smile Mika began to dance along the muffled melody. Hideyoshi joined.

Daisuke couldn't help but film the whole scenery, while Chieko jumped around Yasu demanding more rice juice.

Much to Mika's despair the song was interrupted by the jolly laughter Kimiko ended up in.

Hiroshi chuckled. "Kimiko really fits here, as it seems."

They celebrated till very late into the night and in his room Satoshi smiled satisfied as he heard the cheerful voices trough the speakers.

He was wearing nothing but an apron now and shook his head.

"What a nice addition Kimiko-chan is. It's almost as if Soma-Kim himself is back into the dorm."

Then he turned his head to the window to inspect the stars gathering around the moon.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 _Yay, the Polar Star Dormitory and it's inhabitants now came into play._

 _As you can see, it's rather crowded now compared to Soma's days._

 _Before you leave, just a few things!_

 **Translation of Mika's Italian (remember..I have no idea of Italian...Google Tranlate did the work) speech:**

"What a surprise! Who could have thought, that we would share the same dormitory. Well let it be that way, you will have to live with the fact to see me everyday, after I defeated you"

 **Room Numbers of the Next Gen PSDs:**

Kimiko Yukihira - 303

Hiroshi Aldini-Tadokoro - 304

Mika Aldini - 301

Yasu Ibusaki - 212

Chieko Marui - 205

Hideyoshi Kawashima - 216

Daisuke Aoki - 109

 _Also, if you want me to shed some light on the not 115th Generation students in PSD, please say so...the main focus in PSD scenes will always be these 7 and Isshiki-Senpai but the others could play a minor role owo_

 _Well, with that...I am gonna say goodbye to you then_

 _Thanks for reading, I hope that I can greet you again in the next chapter and have a wonderful week._

 _Bye!_

 **Author's Note End**


	6. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:**

 _Hello!_

 _Yeah, it wasn't as fast as last time but those things happen...sadly this chapter isn't very eventful, I admit and rather an exposition one. The next two will need a lot of research, so I don't know if I will manage them that fast._

 _Welp, I still hope you will enjoy this one here...I guess?_

 _Also wow! Over 100 Follows! This makes me very happy and I am glad that the story is rather well received, it motivates me a lot and I would like to thank you for your support._

 _Let's get to the Reviews of last chapter then, shall we?_

 **aominesshi** : ! Thanks for the kind review, I am so glad you enjoy the story. And yeah, the parents are pretty proud about their little treasures of course. We'll get to that point someday... But well, thanks again for the nice review and hope you'll like this chapter too.

 **Anon:** Glad you liked it! Yeah, as you can see it can be difficult to update that fast...very difficult..But I try my best

 **vincentgenesis:** Well thanks for that friendly review. It's very nice to hear that you like the story so far, enjoy the new chapter, I guess qwq

 _So then, let's get started!_

 **Author's Note End**

* * *

Harumi Tsujimoto was confident.

The dish she had made was good, like everything Harumi did. It surely would please the judges rightly.

Holy tongue here or there. Harumi's dish won't loose.

"That certainly was a nice one." One of the judges stated and laid down the fork. Harumi's smirk grew at that statement and she practically already heard the words _"And the winner is Tsujimoto Harumi"_ in her head as she looked at the satisfied smiles the judges were wearing.

Her opponent still had to serve. Harumi was sure, that he was quite unsure now. She would defiantly teach this boy a lesson.

She heard steps.

Hiraku Yukihira made his way to the judging table, carrying the three plates like a true professional.

Harumi stiffened.

He wasn't encouraged at all. His eyes rather looked...

 _...bored._

Hurriedly she swung around to watch the judges eat the dish.

Already after the first bite they stiffened and stopped moving.

Confusion rang trough the crowd.

Minutes passed.

Painful minutes in which nothing happened.

Minutes that started to feel like hours to Harumi.

Then the judges slammed their judging button.

Harumi went pale and her heart stopped beating for a second as the results read the name "Yukihira Hiraku."

"How?!" She shouted and turned to the judges who eagerly shoved in the dish Hiraku had made.

The crowd started cheering. You heard a lot of "Knew it" and "Hiraku-Sama" within.

Harumi clutched her fist. "How?!"

Hiraku himself yawned. He slowly turned around and walked past Harumi.

"Well, I've won right? So I can go now?" Everything went silent at that statement and the audience just watched.

Harumi couldn't believe it. She had given her all into this dish! And it seemed as if this goddamnit bastard couldn't care less about this Shokugeki!

"Are you for real?! What the hell is wrong with you!" She roared.

Hiraku didn't even turned around. He coldly replied. "That was just a little training for me and really not all too exciting as there was barely any challenge. I have to get ready for something else now."

The following words were spoken sharply.

"The Ninth seat, to be exact."

With that he was gone, meeting up with a pink-haired, tanned and green-eyed male, who was wearing the school uniform and held a clipboard.

Whispers began again and Harumi fell to the ground.

* * *

 **The Fifth Plate - Tōtsuki 101**

* * *

Warm sunlight fell into room 303, awakening the honey blonde girl on the bed.

Slowly Kimiko sat up and yawned. She looked around and needed four seconds to remember that she wasn't at home anymore but in a dormitory called Polar Star. The girl then also recalled last night and couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Wow, it's been some time since I've been that social..." She tiredly mumbled and stood up to get dressed.

It had been late at night as the party was declared to be over.

Chieko had already fallen asleep on the floor with a small smile and reddened cheeks that were caused by the rice juice. Yasu had lifted her up and laid his best friend on her bed. He then had undid her hair, took off her glasses and covered the fragile body with a blanket.

Daisuke and Hideyoshi had started to discuss who of the two would clean Chieko's room a little. They ended up leaving the room, still discussing, without cleaning one inch.

Hiroshi had to assist Mika walking, as the blonde's blue eyes nearly fell close all two seconds and she was nearly sleeping already. Kimiko had walked beside them and together with Yasu, they had left room 205.

"But the party...was fun I have to admit." Kimiko now quietly said for herself as she bound the signature neckerchief around her neck.

She actually was not much of a social person. While she was in good terms with her classmates, she only called one of them, Tadao Moto, her friend. She just didn't had a lot of time for social events and also the most people, were just boring to her.

The group which she had met yesterday defiantly was kind of odd. But at least they all understood a thing about cooking and so Kimiko finally had someone not-familiar-related-to-her she could talk to about her number one passion. Next to that, they had been pretty funny and friendly.

Fully dressed in her school uniform, she then exited her room.

Her floor was rather silent. Probably because the third floor only maintained four rooms and a bathroom. But Kimiko heard lots of voices coming from below.

How was breakfast handled here actually? Did everyone made something themselves? Or...

"Good Morning, Kimiko-san!" She suddenly heard a familiar voice behind her and turned.

Hiroshi was giving her that pure Hiroshi-smile which could melt the thickest of ice.

"Mornin'" Kimiko greeted back and lifted her hand. "How did you sleep? Shall I show you the dining hall?" Hiroshi asked. "Dining Hall?" "Yes, it's breakfast time after all."

 _Ah, so the dorm eats together._ Kimiko noted in her head and nodded towards Hiroshi. "Well sure then, lead the way."

The two got moving down the stairs. As Kimiko expected the second floor was way more crowded than the third. Persons between 11 and 19 walked around between the doors, many of them making their downstairs like Kimiko and Hiroshi did.

"Where's Mika-san?" Kimiko asked while walking. "She's taking a quick shower." Hiroshi answered and switched the topic. "By the way, Satoshi-san will probably cook for our table, since you're new. But actually everyday each Generation sends one of their students into the kitchen so they can cook for the rest of their classmates. We have a schedule, you know? You will get signed into that as well, I guess." "Sounds fair and good to me." Kimiko shrugged.

The pair finally arrived in the noisy dining hall, crowded with the many inhabitants of the Polar Star Dormitory. Hiroshi immediately walked to a table, rather near to the kitchen. While following him, Kimiko took the second to inspect her surroundings. It was a comfortable looking dining hall and large enough as well. There were many tables, all stacked with a different age group which was casually living it's normal dorm morning.

Apparently Yasu, Hideyoshi, Daisuke and Chieko were already sitting at the table Hiroshi and Kimiko headed to. "That's our table." Hiroshi explained what Kimiko could have made out herself. And the nearer the two got, the louder a particular female voice got.

"The books were everywhere! Everywhere except for one place! The bookshelf!" "Oh, Marui seems to be in a great mood." Kimiko deadpanned at the sight of Chieko scolding an emotionless Yasu, an uninterested Hideyoshi and an already exhausted Daisuke. "Yes, but don't worry...at some point she is calm enough to get distracted and then she's normal again."

The two had finally reached their table. "Good Morning." They said in unison. A small smile appeared on Yasu's face and he nodded. "Mornin'" Hideyoshi exclaimed while Daisuke rather yawned it. "Oh well, good morning." Chieko greeted not all to enthusiastic, considering her mood.

"Eh he...let me guess? Your room?" Hiroshi weakly smiled. "Exactly." Chieko hissed and shot a dead glare into the direction of Daisuke and Hideyoshi.

Hiroshi sweatdropped at that sight and sat down. Kimiko took a seat beside him.

"Satoshi-san will be cooking for us today!" Hideyoshi excitedly informed them. "The others should be so jealous." Daisuke turned his head towards Kimiko and Hiroshi as well and added. "His food really is one of the best I've ever eaten."

"Buongiorno." The group heard Mika saying. The Quarter Italian stood in front of them with wet blonde hair and looked quite tired. After a long yawn the freshly bathed girl seated next to Yasu.

"Is she still in that 'Italian-Phase'?" Kimiko asked Hiroshi, who shook his head. "No, I don't think so. She's long enough in Japan now. She just likes speaking Italian sometimes."

Mika let out a grunt, rested her head on her hand and closed her blue eyes.

Chieko raised her voice again. "Anyway! I just find it extremely disrespe-" Luckily for everyone's peaceful morning, she was interrupted.

Satoshi had appeared in the hall and slowly the students started to shut up and drove their attention to the gleeful dorm mother in front of them.

"Good Morning, everyone!" Satoshi beamed and laughed happily.

"How can one person...be that enthusiastic...about everything...at every time of the day." Mika silently mumbled.

"Listen here, children. This privilege to eat and sit together, to live under the same roof and to share your bread with others. This is what life is, this is your meaningful youth which you should enjoy at your fullest, just like I did back in my days. The Polar Star Dormitory is a wonderful place, which you will hopefully always remember and still hold close after graduation. So from the bottom of my heart, I wish you a wonderful day."

 _This guy defiantly fits as a warden for this dormitory._ Kimiko thought. "You basically tell us that everyday, Satoshi-san!" Hideyoshi yelled behind her.

"Well, well, then I don't want to hold you back much longer." Satoshi innocently smiled. "Enjoy your food." The dorm's warden disappeared into the kitchen again and came back with a few seconds later, with some plates and bowls which he brought to Kimiko's table.

"Since you have a new one, I took cooking duties for you guys over for today." He explained the obvious and placed down the food on the table.

"Thanks Satoshi-San." The group sang and with a chuckle Satoshi left them and went over to two very young looking students, sitting all alone at an absent table. Daisuke watched him doing so. "Ah look, those are the first arrivals of the 118th Generation."

"Who cares?" Such a thing could only come from Hideyoshi. "Let's eat."

"Thanks for the food."

As soon as Kimiko took the first bite, she was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer deliciousness, skill and impact which that one bite threw at her.

It tasted absolutely well.

Kimiko was truly astonished by the utter perfection on her plate. It defiantly reached the level of her parents. Something, she only thought her uncle and aunt were capable off.

"Ah, I love Satoshi-san's cooking." Chieko swooned absolutely satisfied. Hideyoshi eagerly nodded. "It certainly is a well cooked dish." Yasu commented.

Hiroshi looked at Kimiko. "And? What do you think, Kimiko-san?" "It's fantastic." Kimiko praised in-between her bites. "Really, I am pleasantly surprised."

Mika smirked. "No need to be, Yukihira. Our dorm mother Satoshi-san was in the Elite Ten once after all."

Cluelessly Kimiko looked up from her plate. "Elite Ten?"

Another one of these strange words, that everyone used around here so casually as if it was something self-explanatory. _What had been the other word? Shotu...Shogu...Shoku...meki?_

Her dormmates blinked, except for Yasu (well maybe he did? But no one could say for sure of course). "The Elite Ten." Hideyoshi said with a bewilderedness in his voice, as if Kimiko just asked what colour grass has. Daisuke was surprised as well. "Don't tell me you don't know them?"

Kimiko just simply shook her head. "Transfer Student, remember?" "Sure we do, but the Elite Ten is something you just...know." Chieko leaned forward a bit, which caused her glasses to slide down her nose a little. She quickly pushed them upwards again and began to explain.

"Totsuki's Elite Ten Council is formed out of the current ten most talented chefs in Totsuki. Mostly second years and third years. Just once someone entered the council during middle school. However, the council is the most important decision-making body next to the director her very self. An Elite Ten Seat comes with a lot of privileges which increase the higher the seat. So of course they enjoy great respect, everlasting honour in the culinary industry and even the teachers have to obey them."

Well, that certainly sounded interesting to Kimiko's ears. She didn't noticed how intensely Mika's eyes were burning on her and asked her next question. "So, the first seat...is basically the top spot?"

"Correct." Yasu took a sip of his tea and turned to Kimiko. "It was basically the First Seat you claimed in your entrance speech."

"Ah okay." Kimiko nonchalantly laughed. "Nice to have a more clear image of it. But sounds quite like the popular spot, no wonder Mika-san immediately challenged me."

Mika flinched at that statement and stuttered. "D...Did you even took my challenge serious?" Hiroshi sighed.

Kimiko didn't responded to Mika but rather wanted to learn more about this so called Elite Ten. "But well, how do you get the first seat anyway?"

"Shokugeki." The entire table said at the same time.

Ah yes, that was the other unknown word.

"And that's...?"

"You don't even know that?!" Mika blurted out. "It's what we're going to have someday, remember?!"

"Ah yes, you did say you would challenge me to one, right?" Mika couldn't believe it. Her voice got rather whiney as she replied, totally frustrated with Kimiko's lack of Totuki-knowledge. "Yes!"

Kimiko shrugged. "Sorry but I really have no idea about it."

Hideyoshi shook his head. "My, my Yukihira. Well..." He pointed at the black haired girl sitting in front of him. "...Marui, I guess it's on you again."

Chieko shot a little glare into Hideyoshi's direction but fairly enough she started to lecture.

"Shokugekis are kind of our way to resolve conflicts here. Putting it very, very, very simple you could say, that it's basically a cook-off. But the cook-off happens in an arena and a certain theme for it is chosen."

A grin had already spread on Kimiko's face at the sound of that. However it was mildred a little by what followed next.

"However, you cannot just walk around and challenge everyone who passes you to a Shokugeki. A Shokugeki will only occur if three certain things are given. First is what you're fighting for. Both parties have to be willing to give up something in the case of a loss, the parties also have to agree on the fact that their compensations are equal. For example, you can't risk expulsion just because you want someone's shirt. In case of a seat in the council: not even expulsion is worth an Elite Ten Seat!"

Okay, that were not so pleasing news. But still Kimiko liked the idea behind those Shokugeki. They sound like a lot of fun.

Chieko ended her explanation. "The other conditions that have to be given, is that a staff member of Totsuki has to acknowledge the Shokugeki as a valid one and that there has to be an odd number of judges organised. And of course, both participants must agree on having the Shokugeki."

Kimiko whistled. "Sounds great."

 _So, the first seat is what I have to catch after all, interesting, interesting. And these Shokugeki things sound tempting as well._

And Kimiko would get sooner to it, than she thought she would.

-.-.-.-

"This campus surely is huge, just the sheer thought of going all the way to the dormitory again is tiring!" Kimiko complained and shook herself.

She was currently walking trough the enormous hallways of Totsuki together with Hiroshi and Mika, as the three had finished all their classes for today.

"I could take you with my bicycle..." Hiroshi offered. Next to him, his cousin took a bite off her green apple. "You should get yourself some sort of vehicle as well, Yukihira." She flipped her pony tail behind her shoulders and proudly added. "Like me for example. I drive a motorcycle."

Mika of course wanted Kimiko to be jealous, but all she got was an impressed look that exclaimed. "Woah, Really? Sounds cool."

"Actually Ibusaki-Kun does that too." Hiroshi interjected with a side glance to Mika, who immediately pouted.

The male Aldini turned back to Kimiko again. "But Itoko-chan is right, the campus is pretty big. Especially us Polar Stars feel that. Let me think...Marui-san mostly just joins Ibusaki-san on his bike...but when she's on her own, she uses roller skates to move forward. She probably has an emergency pair lying around somewhere, you could ask her for it."

"I'll think about it." Kimiko crossed her arms behind her head and wanted to switch the topic has she suddenly heard quick footsteps and a familiar voice behind her.

"Ki - mi - ko!" It rang trough the whole building.

"Lola!" Kimiko exclaimed and swung around.

"Nakiri Lola!" Mika and Hiroshi blurted out simultaneously.

The director's daughter, who just arrived in front of them was quite the VIP after all.

Now another girl stepped around the corner, far behind Lola. She walked way more slowly and wore a stoic expression.

"A...and not just her..." Hiroshi stammered, while Kimiko grinned. "Oh and Mona's there too!"

Mona Nakiri looked quite a lot like her twin sister, they weren't called "twins" for nothing after all. Same height, same breast size, same messy hair, same pale skin, same facial features and of course the same, glowing and somewhat threatening red eyes. She even wore an identical ying-yang-necklace.

However there was one major difference.

Mona's hair was white.

Next to that the one longer bang was in Mona's case on the right side, instead of the left. Notable was also that Mona wore the girl's uniform, but with opened jacket and without ribbon.

Lola demandingly put the hands on her hips. "Mona, hurry up! How can one human being be that slow?"

Mona didn't even bothered to respond and so Lola just sighed and focused on her transfer student cousin again.

"Well, good day Kimiko! How's Totsuki life going? More importantly, how's dorm life going?"

"Both fine, I guess." Kimiko shrugged and then stepped aside a little to truly showcase Mika and Hiroshi, who were still trying to comprehend the fact that Lola Nakiri was talking to them. "Speaking of Polar Star, these two are my dormmates. Aldini-Tadokoro Hiroshi and Mika Aldini. They're cousins."

"Nice to meet you!" Lola smiled while Mona finally arrived next to her. The white haired girl just gave the quarter Italians a nod.

"P...Pleasure is on my side..." Hiroshi bowed, while Mika hastily nodded. "You see, Kimiko and me are cousins as well." Lola announced with pride. "Second-Degree ones."

Mika and Hiroshi's eyes widened. Mona only mumbled. "She's my cousin, as well."

Lola clapped her hands. "But let's get to the point of why I am actually here; Kimiko..." She smirked. "I want to introduce someone to you."

Kimiko tilted her head, but her second-degree cousin was impatient as ever. "Follow me!" She ordered and began to hop down the hallway.

Kimiko sighed and gave an excusing smile into the direction of Mika and Hiroshi. "Well, see you guys later." "S...Sure..." "S...See ya..."

Mona also waved and then turned around alongside Kimiko to follow Lola.

As the trio was gone, Mika clutched her fist.

"They're cousins..." Hiroshi mumbled. "That means..."

"Yeah!" Mika continued, almost a little bitterly. "Yukihira is related to Hiraku-sa..." Her head got red an she quickly shook it. "I...I mean Yukihira-senpai."

Hiroshi just shook his head at his cousin's behaviour. But he couldn't help but to look into the direction Kimiko had disappeared in.

 _Truly, truly; an amazing chef had entered their Generation for sure._

-.-.-.-

"Give me a new chewing gum, this one lost it's taste!"

Harumi hold out her hand, angrily avoiding her underclass man's gaze. The brown haired, young male with a cute, innocent face, decorated with freckles and big blue eyes, sighed.

"Please senpai, you can't just sit here all day and angrily chew gum. That's not going to polish our image at all."

The older girl instantly glared at him.

The sharp, green eyes wanted chewing gum and they wanted it now.

116th Generation's student Kenshin Maeda knew better than to piss off 114th Generation's student Harumi Tsujimoto even more.

So he handed her the twelfth stupid chewing gum of the day and watched how the platinum blonde threw it into her mouth and continued to chew it with that angered but also frustrated face.

It truly was a sad scenery.

But fortunately it got disturbed.

"Here I am! To save the day, once again!" Lola Nakiri cajoled as she crashed into the room, making Kenshin flinch. The black-haired girl was, of course, accompanied by her white-haired twin sister who just couldn't look any less bored.

But there was also a third one. A honey-blonde one, looking trough the room with wondering, yellow eyes.

Harumi raised an eyebrow. "What is it?" "Please don't talk so disrespectful, Tsujimoto-senpai!" Kenshin muttered into her direction. "You act more and more like a thug!"

"Well, I wanted to introduce you to my cousin...Yukihira Kimiko." Lola simply said and pointed with one finger to the Honey-Blonde.

"Yukihi..." Both Harumi and Kenshin whispered, but Lola didn't mind.

"Kimiko, I told you about the Research Societies, right?" "Yes, you did." Kimiko crossed her arms. "They're pretty much Totsuki's kind of school clubs and deal with detailed research on certain cuisines and food fortes."

"Exactly!"

Lola spread her arms wide and chirped. "Well then, this is the French Cuisine RS." She lowered her arms again. "Since you love French food, I just had to show to you."

Kimiko took another look around. "The kitchen does look impressive."

"Gnh..."

Their attention was brought to Harumi again, who had stood up from her chair and clutched her fist, eyes attached to the ground.

"That's the president, Tsujimoto Harumi. Heir to a very known French Restaurant Branch." Was all Lola could say, before Harumi started to growl.

"Nakiri Lola. What's the matter of this, if I may ask? Why..." She stomped her foot on the ground and finally lifted her head, to display those bitter green eyes. "...do you want to remind me on the source of my suffering? Do you want to humiliate me?! I thought you wanted to help?!"

Lola tilted her head, like a young child just hearing a new word. Kimiko glanced to Mona, silently asking her what was going on. But Mona was as emotionless as ever.

"I am here to help." Lola proclaimed. "Kimiko is the sister of Hiraku, yes." She didn't minded how Harumi flinched at the mere mention of this name and how Kenshin quickly rushed to the club president to shut her before she could use very foul words. Lola just nonchalantly continued. "Who could be better to improve your club's image again than the sister of Hiraku himself?"

For the first time Harumi's expression actually mildred a little.

Kimiko spoke up. "Now hold on Lola! What's going on here actually?"

"Kimiko!" Lola snickered. "Glad you asked. Well, to put it simply. Tsujimoto-senpai here got beat by your brother in a Shokugeki...You know what these things are?"

Kimiko gave a quick nod. "Yes, yes sure. Go on."

"Well, the RS's image went a little down afterwards of course." "Five Members left." Kenshin brought in with a sad tone.

"And that's where _you_ get into the game, my dear cousin." Lola smirked and pointed at the girl she referred to. "As Hiraku's sis, you're going to do a Shokugeki in the name of the French Cuisine RS to polish the image back up again! Aren't I a genius?"

Kenshin's eyes widened in amazement and he let go of his senpai, who looked at Lola the same way he did.

Kimiko stayed silent for a bit.

Unsurely Kenshin wanted to ask. "A...Are you okay with that...Yukihira-senp..." "I'll do it." Kimiko interrupted.

She started to grin and glanced to Lola. "Nice that I get a chance for a Shokugeki that soon!"

Kenshin let out a breath of relief and Lola giggled satisfied. Mona stood there as silent as ever.

"But wait a minute." Harumi suddenly voiced. "This is still my Research Society! Not everyone can just step into it like that."

She sat down on her chair again, flipped her blonde locks and crossed her legs in an elegant way.

"First you have to show me what you've got, Yukihira Kimiko."

"Tsujimoto-Senpai!" Kenshin cried, but Kimiko's grin only got wider.

"Sure thing, senpai!"

"Well, nice, nice!" Lola smiled. "I'll go and organise the Shokugeki then!"

Cheerfully she grabbed her twin sister by the arm and dragged her out of the room. "Have fun!"

She closed the door behind her, shutting away the scenery of Kimiko confidently rushing to the kitchen watched by the critical eyes of Harumi.

"What do you get from her for helping out?" Mona immediately asked as they couldn't be heard by anyone anymore.

Lola snickered once again. "Very nice earrings, an even nicer knife case and of course a few cook utensils. Nothing too big, but still nice. I mostly took on this task to troll around with Hiraku a little."

Mona's neutral, lazy voice suddenly became rather sharp.

"And you can't just simply do something nice to others...because?"

Lola stopped in her walk. So did her sister behind her.

She took over the sharp tone of her white haired twin.

"How often do I have to tell you, Mona?"

Lola turned just her head halfway, so she could meet her sisters almost challenging eyes.

"It's eat or be eaten in this world."

With that she set her focus forward again and started to move.

"'Nice people' don't last long in it."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 _You know, it was pretty relaxing to have a chapter without any cooking once. This is defiantly the hardest part for m But well, next chapter we're going to get to the culinary aspects back again, don't worry._

 _Welp, a lot of unused ideas got thrown into the bin for that chapter I gotta say. But I don't regret doing so._

 _Also I know that at the moment, the story isn't all too different to the original SnS, but it's just the beginning and I have to write myself into it somehow. It will truly, truly start with the Training Camp...but well..._

 _Next Chapter we're going to get to the Shokugeki's details and stuff, I am very excited to write about the first Shokugeki, since I did not wrote one in the Alpha Version of the story!_

 _So yah._

 _Harumi Tsujimoto (also appeared in the Alpha Version by the way, for anyone who remembers) and Kenshin Maeda are original characters, by the way of course (yes, some of them will appear here and there too)_

 _Also Mona got introduced! Yay!_

 _While Chieko truly took over the TVtrope Ms. Exposition_

 _Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and that I can greet you in the next one as well_

 _Have a wonderful next week, best wishes and bye!_

 **Author's Note End**


	7. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:**

 _*sighs*_

 _Hello..._

 _Sorry that this took a little, I didn't had a lot of motivation and inspiration lately and as it finally came back...I had no internet anymore (because of travel)_

 _This chapter is not very eventful either and not to mention, rather short._

 _I'll try my best to get the next chapter over a bit more faster._

 _I still hope you can enjoy this one.._

 _Thanks for all the Reviews on the last one, I really appreciate it qwq_

 **Now onto Review Replies!**

 **Chyscake:** Oh, that's very nice to hear. Don't worry, it's enough what you said. And I know the feel of not knowing how to express feelings qwq. Hope you'll like this chapter as well.

 **Ena-Ena Till It Hurts:** I already sent you a PM owo and I am very glad you like the story! Thanks for telling me qwq.

 **pepe:** Oh! Well that's certainly a nice thing to hear, I am glad! Sadly the Shokugeki will happen next Chapter...I hope this is not too much of a let-down.

 **Arrow3ss:** Hm, I still have to learn and research a lot about culinary world. I mean Shokugeki is a great start, but I don have to make search some things for myself as well. But well yeah, Lola strongly believes you're better off alone in culinary industry. Something that will play a role later on of course.

 **aominesshi:** Oh I love replying to Reviews, because I am so glad to read them and I just have to. Firstly, YES you're absolutely right thanks for telling me...I messed up there and accidentally switched but yes Kenshin is 116th Generation and Harumi 114th...I changed it right away. Again, thanks so much for noticing qwq. Glad you like Mona aaaand to the Author's Note revealing everyone's parents...Hm. I don't really feel like it. It feels so...Taking away a little mystery (not much mystery, granted but still...) All parents will make an appearance sooner or later and get revealed one by one. However if people really want to know, I can sent them a PM...so as I am going to you :) Also don't worry about the long Review, I appreciate it and I am glad you read this story qwq

 _Well then...Happy Reading I guess_

 **Author's Note End**

* * *

"Hello!"

Without a knock or any other sign that she would come in, Lola stormed into the building.

Widely grinning she stepped in and right behind her followed Mona.

The people of course flinched at that sudden noise and looked up from their pans and pots.

Not that Lola Nakiri cared.

With confidence, higher than a mountain, she made her way to the chosen destination, not minding the looks she earned at all. Mona remained where she was.

"Nakiri Lola."

Lola's grin only grew as a boy her age approached her with his hands on his hips, ready to fight anytime.

He had wild, medium length, purple hair. His eyes were brown and he wore red, expensive-looking Chinese attire. Notable was also, that he didn't seemed to be very tall. Lola, for example, was taller than him.

"Good Day to you as well, Hojo." Lola cheerfully greeted, completely ignoring the clear resentment the boy held towards her. "Well, uhm...could I talk to your sister please? It's a club related manner."

"All club-related manner can be taken care of by me." The boy firmly responded.

The atmosphere was thick and not one of the other club members said any word. They just stared at the scenery in front of them, awaiting what would happen next.

Lola snickered, while her twin yawned way behind.

"Oh, well if that's the case..." She stopped laughing and only gave the boy a calm, but challenging smile. "Interested in a Shokugeki against the transfer student?"

The boy felt fire burn up in his chest. His muscles stiffened at it's warmth and his eyes widened at that proposal.

He could not hide his interest.

Another chuckle from the black-haired, sly fox in front of him.

"I knew that would catch your interest. You're the type of guy to get all fired up at her entrance speech."

* * *

 **The Sixth Plate - A Japanese Flute playing French Waltz**

* * *

"It's done."

Harumi couldn't help but to let out a surprised gasp as she saw what was displayed in front of her on the table.

Kenshin next to her spoke out her thoughts. "Is...Is that _Coq au vin_?"

"B...But with Sake?" Harumi continued. Coq au Vin was a classic French dish, with the basic idea to have chicken braised in wine. The usual wine to go was Burgundy, but in France there were variations in nearly every Provence.

"Correct!" Kimiko Yukihira, who was under consideration of joining the French Cuisine RS, said. "I mean, Sake is basically rice wine. I call it 'Coq au Sake, with a slight touch of Soy Sauce."

"Hmph." Hurriedly giving her face the critical look again, Harumi took a spoon. "If it tastes well is a different question."

As the heir to a French restaurant branch, she of course knew what a Coq au vin was and also how it had to taste. And she surely won't go easy on some transfer student.

With her dear father she had traveled trough the provinces of France as a young child, experiencing one exquisiteness after the other. French cuisine was utter perfection in her eyes and she took it very serious. Not to mention Coq au vin was one of France's signature dishes. Her expectations were high.

But once again, her critical expression vanished.

To make way for the pleased face she made, as her tongue tasted the sheer deliciousness of the chicken braised in Japan's most famous rice wine.

Judging by Kenshin's overwhelmed but happy face, he liked it as well.

Kimiko grinned only confidently. "And how is it, Tsujimoto-Senpai?"

Kenshin also expectingly turned to the RS' president, who couldn't help but let out a satisfied sigh. "You mixed a little soy sauce into the Sake and braised the chicken in it, just like how a Coq au vin has to be prepared."

Now, Kenshin spoke up. "Also you used Shiitake Mushrooms to fit the Japanese Flair but kept the onions and potatoes!"

Kimiko nodded. "I enjoy fusing cuisines. Granted, I may should have go with truly traditional French cuisine to join the RS, but this way, it's just much more fun to me, you know?"

While Kimiko told them about that, Harumi and Kenshin just took bite after bite, fastening with each one.

At some point an image slowly started to appear around them:

 _They felt like being two nobles allowed to witness the meeting of two Royals._

 _A beautiful Japanese princess entered the ballroom. She had long, silky white hair, in which she wore a clip that looked awfully a lot like a shiitake mushroom, and her eyes were as brown as Soy Sauce. Instead of the frilly ball gowns that everyone else was wearing, she was dressed in a Kimono with cherry blossoms on it._

 _The Japanese princess met up with the French prince, standing right at the end of the room, surrounded by the Japanese and French nobles. He wore the finest clothes and had a warm, elegant voice._

 _So nobody complained that the prince was basically a rooster._

 _And then Japanese princess and French prince started to dance. Even though they just met, they swirled around the room in such a perfect way, that someone clueless would swear that they had practiced this beforehand._

 _"Such a pretty display! Such a bedazzling performance!" The enchanted Kenshin and Harumi swooned at the same time._

 _"We can call ourselves lucky to even be allowed to witness this. What a honour!"_

 _And so they just simply watched in awe, the dance between French and Japanese Cuisine._

"Ah!"

Harumi teared up her eyes as she found herself back in the real world.

Did she just got reduced to mere nobility instead of royalty?

Had she just felt _honoured_ to eat a dish?

 _The dish_ should be honoured to be eaten by her!

But still, Harumi couldn't doubt it.

What the transfer student served to her, was worthy for her dear Research Society.

"Amazing, Yukihira-Senpai!" Harumi heard Kenshin exclaiming. "It tasted splendid!"

Addressed only laughed. "Well, I am glad to hear that!" She then turned to the person she wanted to impress. "Tsujimoto-Senpai?"

"Tch." Harumi flipped her blonde hair, but after she did so her expression softened a little and she muttered. "I can only agree to Kenshin-Kun."

The grin on Kimiko's face grew.

"Well, well.." Harumi grunted. Her voice got louder as she announced. "You proved your worth, Yukihira Kimiko! From now on, you're part of the French RS!"

Kenshin cheered while Kimiko proudly yelled. "Glad you liked it."

As if they knew that the timing couldn't be more perfect, the door opened and the Nakiri Cousins made their second appearance in the French RS that day.

"Oh you're back." Kimiko called out and also Kenshin and Harumi drove their attention to the two.

"That's right." Lola smirked, while Mona only nodded. "And how did the test go?" Lola then teasingly asked her cousin.

Kimiko retorted immediately. "What do you think?"

Lola only responded with a chuckle and moved to the important things. "Anyway, the Shokugeki is arranged!"

"Who are we up against?" Kenshin curiously asked while Harumi expectingly raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, yeah don't thank me for my heart work." Lola dramatically sighed, which resulted in a headshake from her cousin and an eyeroll from her sister. "The Chinese Cuisine RS."

"Ha...Hah?" Was all Kenshin could say, while Harumi's eyes widened a little. "A Cuisine Clash you say?"

"Sounds exciting, doesn't it?" Lola purred and glanced to Kimiko, who didn't complained at all. The honey blonde rather wondered what kind of chef the so called Chinese Cuisine RS would send against her.

"B...But she's not going to battle it's president...r...right?" Kenshin stuttered.

"Battling the president would be Tsujimoto-Senpai's job, so no." Lola put her hands on her hips. "She _is_ battling one of the best students the RS has to offer, but still a fellow first year."

"Sounds fair." Harumi now brought herself into the conversation again and moved the topic a little farer. "You say, the Shokugeki is already arranged...However, we did not offer anything to give up yet."

"Oh, I did that for you." Lola nonchalantly shrugged.

Harumi yelled. "WHAT?!"

"You put duty into my hands, what did you expect?"

Mona finally took a step forward. Her emotionless red eyes looked exactly at Kimiko as she revealed. "In case of a loss for the French RS, Yukihira Kimiko not only has to apologise for her speech at the entrance ceremony but also has to take her sayings back."

The room was silent and Kimiko's eyes grew bigger, as she clearly didn't expected something like that. She felt how Lola, Harumi and Kenshin stared at her. One of them knew what was going on in Kimiko's mind right now and the other two wondered what Kimiko said in the entrance speech.

"Oh, and Tsujimoto Harumi has to give her designer Purse to the Chinese RS' president." Mona added, not reading the atmosphere at all.

"Excuse me?" Kimiko said while Harumi roared. "What?! You offered my purse?!"

Ignoring the angered Harumi in the background, Kimiko looked to Lola and then back to Mona with a not understanding face.

"Who the hell wants such a humiliating apology from me?!"

"The one you're going to face, Kimiko." Lola responded. "You know, you got a lot of people angry with your speech."

Immediately recalling her first meeting with Kaori Hayama and Mika Aldini, Kimiko crossed her arms. "Well, I did plan to win either way...such pointless mockery only gets me more fired up."

"That's typical, Kimiko." Lola smirked.

Kenshin broke the family bonding. "What do we gain?" He looked at Mona, who delivered right away. "The standard bout place for the Chinese RS in the upcoming Moon Banquet Festival, as well as assisting for said Festival and a few kitchen tools."

The anger finally went out of Harumi's face. "Their Moon Banquet Festival Bout is always so central...That is...tempting." Kenshin whispered.

"Moon Banquet Festival?" Kimiko asked her black-haired cousin, who only waved off. "Not important right now, you'll see soon enough. The actual purpose is still the club's reputation after all."

"I'll give it my best!" Kimiko promised, after turning to her new RS' president and underclassman. Kenshin's face lightened up even more, while Harumi muttered. "Good to hear."

"That's the spirit." Lola clapped her hands together and loudly announced. "Well then, the Shokugeki will occur in four days and the main ingredient for it is fish! Be ready, French Cuisine RS!"

Kimiko only half-heartly cheered with the others. She still was asking herself, who the hell was the next person who questioned her right to the first place?!

-.-.-.-

The reactions to Kimiko's Shokugeki were varied:

The first ones she told about her Shokugeki were Chieko and Yasu, who Kimiko met infront of the dorm, as they had just returned from the gardens.

"A Shokugeki?" Chieko questioned quite surprised. Kimiko only shrugged. "Yeah, I mean, why not?"

"It is pretty soon." Yasu said. Chieko nodded in approval but interest undeniably started to gleam in her teal eyes. "Well, who are you up against?"

"Someone of the Chinese Cuisine RS, I'll do the Shokugeki in the name of the French RS, you know."

The two others exchanged looks, before Chieko responded. "French cuisine against Chinese then? Sounds interesting." "If there's anything we can help you with let us know." Yasu spoke up and gave Kimiko an encouraging smile.

"Oh I appreciate that offer." Kimiko politely said. "But this Shokugeki is also challenging my honour. So, even tough I am sure you two could be great help, I'd like to do this one on my own."

"Okay, alright then." Chieko quite determinedly put her hands on her hips and smiled. "Just know that we got your back and we'll defiantly come and cheer you on!"

"Thanks."

Mika's reaction was not so calm.

"No! No! No! No! Yukihira! How could you do that?!" She slammed her fist on the table and made a face as if Kimiko had insulted her.

"Eh..." Was all Kimiko could respond, being quite overwhelmed by that reaction.

"Your first Shokugeki was supposed to be against me! Does my challenge mean nothing to you?! Also! Who dares to demand an apology from you, when I am the one who shall teach you some manners?! Why didn't you challenge my RS?!"

"...my cousin organised all of this. I had nothing to do with it. Besides, what RS are you even in?"

Mika's face went red. "Aaargh!" She took a deep breath to calm down a little and looked at Kimiko again. "Well, then at least make sure to win this thing. Because you're not going to take your claim for the top spot back, before facing me!"

Kimiko chuckled, she liked this fiery girl more and more.

"Sure thing, Mika-chan!"

"DON'T CHUCKLE! Oh and..." She looked away and mumbled. "I am in the Don RS by the way."

Hideyoshi and Daisuke's reaction was something completely different to Mika's.

They actually got pretty excited.

"Really? A Shokugeki? That soon?"

"Way to go, Yukihira! Hey, maybe one of us is going to host it!"

Alice who heard the news from Lola, texted Kimiko that she's pretty lucky getting a fish theme, considering her familiar ties. In her text she also remarked, that Kimiko is so much like her father.

Satoshi only shook his head at the news and walked away chuckling.

Lastly, Kimiko told Hiroshi, who nearly spit out his tea.

"A Shokugeki?! And you shall apologise for your speech if you loose?!"

"That's what I said."

Hiroshi sighed. "And here I was, trying to hold back Itoko-chan and her mindless, bold challenges because I thought you need your time to fully arrive in Totsuki."

Kimiko giggled. "Well Shokugekis are part of Totsuki as well, so you could say I am learning this school's ways."

"But Shokugeki should be like...concern number 25 in your first week, Kimiko-San!" Hiroshi cried.

"Hey look, I'll be fine." Kimiko assured with a honest smile. This boy was stressing himself more over this Shokugeki than she was. "The only thing _you_ should worry about right now is what seat you will snatch in the arena. Leave everything else to me, alright?"

Hiroshi pressed his lips together. "If you say so...but you see Kimiko-San, the Chinese RS is very strong. It has a lot of members and all of them are very skilled. Who are you up against? And how familiar are you with French cuisine actually?"

"I love cooking French. I mean I always just did it for fun and my own purposes, as our diner doesn't has any use for French food of course, but well, I do feel safe enough. About my opponent, I still don't know. One of their aces, Lola said." Kimiko also took a sip of the tea, Hiroshi had poured her in beforehand.

Hiroshi shook his blue head and sighed once again. "Oh Kimiko-San, to think you would get yourself into such a thing that early."

"Again, I'll be fine." Kimiko repeated her promise. "You don't think, I would let someone walk all over my honour like that, don't you?"

"You really are confident. Your speech certainly wasn't a joke." Hiroshi mumbled before giving up his light scolding. "Well, as you said, all I can do is come and watch, which I'll defiantly do. And even tough it's not really a question of luck...Good Luck."

"That's what I want to hear! I appreciate it, thanks."

On that very same evening, Kimiko already started to experiment with fish. Granted she still had time. But the fact that someone wanted an apology for her words, was just so _low_ to her, that she just was so determined to stomp whoever there was to stomp into the ground.

Not even Mika and Kaori demanded such nonsense.

Like who was this person, not being able to accept some concurrence?

"I'll show you where my words come from." Kimiko muttered, while slicing up Tuna. "No one underestimates me!"

-.-.-.-

There were reactions, that Kimiko didn't witnessed.

One of them taking place in the Nakiri Mansion.

A pink-haired boy with tanned skin and leaf-green eyes stormed trough the fancy building in search for a particular door.

As he reached it, he opened it up and called trough the room. "Hiraku-Sama!"

The boy standing at the window, turned around. Flame red hair, noble violet eyes and a squid between his teeth.

Hiraku Yukihira.

"What is it, Hayama?" He calmly asked.

"You did told me that your sister just recently entered Totsuki..." The other boy panted, being exhausted from running.

"Yeah, and?"

"I heard the most recent news...Yukihira Kimiko will be doing a Shokugeki in the French Cuisine RS's name." He held out a tablet, on which the online edition of Totsuki Sports was displayed.

"Kimiko? French Cuisine RS?" Hiraku repeated and walked up to the other boy. He took the tablet out of his hands and looked for himself.

" **Upcoming Shokugekis** " was the headline for that special section, that informed the readers about less important Shokugekis, that didn't had the worth to get a full article. Hiraku quickly looked over all the names, from which most of them didn't rang any bell. Then he finally found his sister's name. It was at the bottom of the list, as it were still pretty fresh news and also had a remark behind it ("More Info about to come").

"You're right! Kimiko is having her first Shokugeki...But why in the name of the French Cuisine RS?" He called out after reading trough the thing. His eyes wandered to the other boy again, who was breathing normally again. "I just defeated the RS's president, didn't I? Why is my sister joining forces with them? Why would Kimiko care?"

"I have not the slightest idea." Was the response and a mumbled. "She's not my sister after all."

"Guess we'll have to look ourselves then! Hayama, take a note in my calendar, please. We'll defiantly going to watch this."

"Done."

Another reaction, Kimiko didn't knew about, happened in the enemies' territory.

The Chinese Cuisine RS.

It was empty, due to all of the students being at home already, except for two.

One of them laughed so loud, that it was probably heard by the birds way up there in the sky.

"You demanded an apology? You're going into a Shokugeki for an _apology_?"

A blonde teenage girl patted a boy one year younger than her on the shoulder. "Oh, you should work on your temper."

"You're the one to speak." The boy grumbled. "Hey, my outbursts have class, okay? And I get angry about _important things_." The girl shot back with a smirk.

"You didn't heard that speech, so of course you don't understand."

The boy freed himself out of the girl's arm and crossed his arms.

"I'll make sure to let this girl know her place."

"I still think, you're a little overacting." He heard a yawn behind her.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 _I'll try to finish Chapter 7 as soon as possible (also I am very excited to write a Shokugeki) but Research has to be done and will probably take up the most of my time._

 _Well, as always..._

 _Thanks a lot for reading and hopefully I can greet you again next chapter_

 _Have a wonderful week!_

 **Author's Note End**


	8. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:**

 _Hello, after the short very short chapter last time, here I present you the longest chapter so far o w o;;_

 _I really hope, I didn't mess anything up culinary-wise or something (I probably did, I still need a lot to learn when it comes to that...If you spot something then please inform me) and that you will enjoy the chapter as much as I did writing it._

 _It's the first Shokugeki I've written so far and I look forward of doing more...even tough it's really hard doing the research for two dishes =w=_

 _But well, enough of me so far and let's get to the review replies to start the chapter!_

 **Anon:** Hm, I am glad you liked the chapter! Hope this one will be to your liking as well owo

 **Anubis:** Thanks, that's very nice to hear! And don't worry, we'll get to that.

 _Well then let's dive in_

 **Author's Note End**

* * *

Kaori Hayama couldn't care less about other people's Shokugekis.

They were none of her business and boring to watch.

So no one could blame the three students getting very surprised about suddenly having the valedictorian of their generation standing infront of them with crossed arms, darkly asking. "Who did you said is going to have a Shokugeki?"

The three boys, holding an article of "Totsuki Sports", nearly got a heart attack.

Kaori impatiently rolled her eyes at that. "And?" She demanded like some sort of General.

"T...The Transfer Student..." One of the boys stuttered. "Yu...Yukihira Kimiko is having a Shokugeki, presenting the French Cuisine RS in it." "Tomorrow." Another shyly interjected.

Kaori clutched her fist at the mere mention of the name "Yukihira".

She remembered her confident grin at the entrance ceremony and the nerves she had to just claim the top spot as her own.

Although Kaori would have preferred to be the one to absolutely stomp her into the ground, seeing the ego being wiped out of that girl's face was indeed a tempting thought.

But what if some incompetent loser had challenged Kimiko? Totsuki was full of these.

Despite the resentment Kaori held for Kimiko, she did felt that Kimiko's confidence about her skills didn't came from nothing.

She may was able to defeat some of the lowest trash in the 115th Generation.

Like the guys with the magazine for example.

"Who's she up against?" Kaori asked them, making them flinch once again.

One of the guy's gave her the magazine with the open page and as Kaori saw that picture, she just gave a quick nod to herself.

 _He could have a chance._

She gave the magazine back and turned around elegantly, walking away from the three, who watched her with red cheeks.

Satisfied she took out her phone and opened the most organised calendar anyone had ever witnessed.

"Yukihira Hiraku's sister's Shokugeki" she added for the next day.

* * *

 **The Seventh Plate - A Question of Honor**

* * *

A medium arena had been chosen for Kimiko's Shokugeki.

It was in mere minutes filled to the last place, with curious students interested in finding out about the peculiar transfer student.

The Shokugeki had not begun yet, so trough the whole arena chats and primarily gossips were held. Most of them addressing "Yukihira Hiraku" and the possible relationship he could have to Kimiko. But a lot were also talking about how curious they were to finally see Kimiko cook and concerns about the French RS who just suffered a terrible loss not too long ago.

But no one expected to see said Hiraku Yukihira actually show up in the VIP Lounge, accompanied by his assistant.

He had that signature squid arm between his teeth, which he seemed to like chewing on and looked down on the arena with a neutral expression. Behind the thick glasses of the lounge, he probably didn't heard the gasps, squeals and exclaims from down there.

The people down there also didn't hear him saying. "Well then, let's see how Kimiko does in her very first Shokugeki."

In between the now very lousy crowd, Mika Aldini's eyes had gotten quite big and dreamy with the appearance of the upperclassmen. Hiroshi looked at her with a knowing smile.

Next to him, Chieko, Yasu, Hideyoshi and Daisuke gazed upwards the VIP Lounge as well, but not very dreamingly. Rather curious and confused.

"Yukihira Hiraku, just recently took over the Ninth Seat of the Elite Ten in the very first week, while already becoming the Tenth in his first year of highschool, last year." Chieko adjusted her glasses. "Since he shares the same surname as Kimiko-cchi, a lot of people suspect that they're related."

Mika didn't listened at all, as she was too caught up at staring at Hiraku, who currently chatted with his assistant. But if she had, she probably would have shook herself at the thought of Kimiko and Hiraku being related.

"I am one of these people." Hideyoshi immediately proclaimed. "I mean, the fact that he shows up at such a rather unimportant Shokugeki alone, is proof enough, right?"

"Now, don't judge to fast." Daisuke chimed in. "Yukihira Hiraku apparently had a Shokugeki against the French RS' president. As Kimiko is fighting in the name of that RS, he could be here to just look how she does."

"Oh come on, they look extremely a like!"

"Don't you think, Yukihira would have said a word if she was related to an Elite Ten?!"

"Don't start bickering about such a thing now." Yasu interrupted before Hideyoshi could say something back. "We'll find out soon enough, I guess. Right now, we're here to cheer on Yukihira, not to investigate about her roots."

Hiroshi gave a nod, as he couldn't agree more. "Exactly."

Hideyoshi grumbled. "Man, but I do hope we'll find out someday, so I can cash the money that..." Daisuke interjected. "Hold on, hold on. Who said _you_ would win the bet?"

"...Do you two have to bet on anything?" Chieko questioned and raised an eyebrow.

Before the two could answer, Yasu completely changed the topic. "Besides, shouldn't you already be backstage, Aoki?"

Daisuke flinched at that sudden statement and squeaked. "Damnit, you're right!" All colour went out of his face as his speech got faster and nervous. "Ahh, I am late! What will the others say? Oh stupid, stupid me!"

With a whimpered "Thanks, Ibusaki" he rushed away as fast as he could.

Hideyoshi watched, while shaking his head in disappointment. "Ts, ts. That would have never happened to me."

"...But you're always late for class." Yasu and Chieko stated simultaneously, resulting in Hideyoshi hissing. "Oh can you two not shut up?!"

"Pfew." Hiroshi turned away from the upcoming discussion and drove his attention to his cousin again. She was still looking up to Hiraku with a smile.

"You're being obvious." Hiroshi softly giggled.

"Hm, what is it, Hiroshi?" Mika's dreamingly response, made Hiroshi's smile even wider. "Oh my, Itoko-Chan do you really find him _that_ good-looking?"

First Mika blinked a little confused, but than the realisation sunk in trough the lovestruck clouds and she got red. "Ha..Hah?! What are you talking about, Hiroshi?! I...I...do not..!"

"Of course, Itoko-chan." Hiroshi chuckled but switched the topic for his cousin's sake. "So, how do you think the Shokugeki will play out?"

The red went out of Mika's face at that question. But instead it was replaced with a pout. "What do I know?" She sulked.

Hiroshi sighed and shook his head. "Oh come on, are you still angry about the fact, someone else gets to have a Shokugeki against Kimiko-San except you?"

"Hmph." Was Mika's response but she did snap out of it, with an annoyed moan. "Well, but I can't start any prediction, when I haven't seen Yukihira cook yet."

"Sounds fair." Hiroshi mumbled back and looked down to the arena.

 _"I'll be fine."_ Kimiko's words rang back in Hiroshi's head.

 _"You don't think, I would let someone walk all over my honour like that, don't you."_

 ** _"Without further ado, now that I am here, I will claim the top spot as mine."_**

Hiroshi couldn't deny the worry that had build up in his bones.

He didn't liked seeing people sad and what Kimiko was about to experience in case of a loss was probably beyond sadness.

But all he could do was to watch and leave matters into Kimiko's hands after all.

Hiroshi shook himself. Unlike most of them, he had seen Kimiko's skills already and he just had to believe in them, like she did as well. Kimiko had told him not to worry.

He didn't knew that another person was very pleased of the thought of Kimiko loosing.

Kaori had seated somewhere in the top rows and ignored the confused glances she gained. Her focus was set on the arena.

She had a expecting smirk on her face and the fact that Hiraku was here, only rose her excitement for the preferred outcome of the Shokugeki even more.

And then, the lights finally went out.

This action silenced the gossips and chats and everyone turned their attention to the stage, which was now lightened by the spotlights. On the stage stood a unsure-looking, brown haired boy dressed in the school uniform, having a red band around his arm that classified him as host.

"Good Day, everyone." Daisuke said trough the microphone and smiled shyly. Compared to Hideyoshi's constant exclaims and cajoling when hosting, he was pretty soft-spoken.

"Well and uhm...Welcome to today's Shokugeki, between the French Cuisine RS and the Chinese Cuisine RS."

Two new spotlights were cast into the ranks of the audience. One showcased the Chinese RS looking confident. It's members had seated absolutely relaxed and didn't even bothered to pay attention to anything. The French RS however, was rather unsure as they didn't knew _who_ was actually presented them. Except of Kenshin Maeda who just looked at the entrance and Harumi Tsujimoto who glared towards the Chinese RS challenging.

"Today we'll have two representatives of the two societies to clash against each other in a battle of food and cuisine." Daisuke softly continued, so that some people in the higher rows (Kaori for example) had to lean forwards a little to clearly understand just what the host was saying. "I am Aoki Daisuke and I'll be your host today."

"He really does has hosting skills..." Chieko sighed "But he has to speak a little louder." Hideyoshi nodded, while Yasu muttered. "Aoki should raise his confidence."

"S...So uhm well..." Daisuke stammered, as he received nothing but silence from the audience. "Let's get the judges in, then?"

The students set their focus into the direction that Daisuke pointed to, to spot three adult making their way to the judges table.

As the three stepped into the light, the audience could recognise two men and one woman.

The woman had smooth, black hair tied into an elegant bun. She wore a wine-red, floor-length Gala-Dress that hugged her curves. She accompanied it with a fluffy, expensive-looking, white scarf, a black velvet purse and tons of sparkling Jewerly. "Please Welcome...Maaka Akai..." Daisuke introduced the fine lady, who already earned a lot of enchanted looks within the audience. She smiled gently and waved.

"Why does she look like she's going to a movie premiere?" Mika questioned. "Actually.." Chieko informed. "Maaka Akai is a well known actress and singer. However, the reason they bring her here, is because she also made herself a name in the culinary world somehow. Apparently her uncle is a gourmet chef who cooked for her since she's young, which makes her standards incredibly high. There are stories that she left restaurants after taking one bite of a dish."

"Ah, I see." Mika acknowledged. She was not too much in touch with Japan's celebrity world. "She may look a bit overdressed, but still very elegant." Hiroshi commented next to her.

"Ahhh~" Everyone turned to Hideyoshi, who was blushing and looking at the woman dreamingly. "She looks truly flattering. What an honour to be in the same room as her!" They also noted how Daisuke stood down there and looked at the woman with red cheeks as well.

The man next to Akai nearly looked pale in comparison to his sparkling company. He wore a plain white T-Shirt which read "I ❤ Beijing", black shorts, brown shoes and white socks. His hair was light brown and looked like it had never seen a brush.

"...Nishimori Haruka..." Daisuke continued the introduction, while Chieko provided a little background information to her dormmates. "Ahh, I heard of this guy. He's the heir to a know Chinese restaurant in Japan, but refused to take it over until he didn't completely honed his skills somewhere. So he traveled only by bike trough China to fully study their cuisine."

"A Chinese Chef as judge for a Chinese vs. French cuisine clash?" Hiroshi squeaked. "Not just that." Yasu noted and pointed downwards again. "Look."

The person he was referring to was a man way older than the two others. He had blonde hair, black eyes, a mustache and wore an high class, brown suit. Although he was smiling, his smile did look...kind off merciless.

"Daaaaaaaaaad?!" The arena suddenly heard Harumi shouting in disbelief. All sincerity in that man's face completely vanished at that moment and was replaced with a look of happiness. "Bonjour, my cute little angel."

While Kenshin tucked his head and repeated "Angel...?", Daisuke timidly turned to Harumi. "Y...You didn't let me speak my..."

"Huh?!" Harumi turned her attention towards the host, who became pale instantly at that glare of hers. "N...Nothing at all..." He yelped and decided to just redo the introduction.

"...and lastly, Tsujimoto Ichiro."

"He's the main chef of a French restaurant branch. Much like Nishimori, he traveled trough France for research and even took his daughter, Tsujimoto Harumi, with him." Chieko informed upwards. Yasu gave an agreeing nod. "Exactly, looks like they organised a Chinese cuisine expert and a French."

"Ah, Mr. Tsujimoto will probably be hard to impress.." Hiroshi nervously mumbled. "But so will Nishimori." Mika assured to him. "And let's not forget about Maaka Akai-Sama." Hideyoshi swooned.

As the judges finally had seated, Daisuke did a presenting hand gesture.

"...and now...Bring the candidates, inside!"

He drove the audience's attention to the west entrance.

"Making her entrance into the Arena: the new transfer student; Yukihira Kimiko!"

Kimiko's name appeared on the screen hanging above the arena, with blue flames in the background. Kimiko wore a neutral expression as she stepped into the arena and walked towards the stage as she was told to.

"Come on, Yukihira! Don't let us down! You're fighting for my purse!" Harumi yelled so loud, that even Hiraku could hear it in full volume. The rest of the French RS sweatdropped, while Kenshin stammered. "N...Now, Now, please don't kill me Tsujimoto-Senpai, but I think your purse is one of the lesser important things..."

Hiraku had watched Kimiko's entrance with a small smirk, mumbling. "Show them what you've got, little one."

Now he turned to his assistant and asked. "Who's she up against?"

"Hah? You don't know?" His assistant gasped, totally bewildered at the cluelessness of his boss.

"And now..." Daisuke turned to the east entrance.

For the first time, the Chinese RS actually moved and turned their heads towards said entrance as well, through which just in that moment a young boy stepped.

"Making his entrance into the arena: the challenger and the little brother of the president of the Chinese RS..."

The boy looked serious and wore a Chinese-Styled uniform.

The president, a blonde second year with purple eyes, grinned proudly at the sight of her little brother.

"One of their aces: Hojo Takayuki!"

Now Takayuki's name appeared on the screen, with red flames in the background.

"Hojo's little brother?" Hiraku said upwards.

"She's apparently quite protective over him and they both have the same bad temper, as I have heard." His assistant provided. "Hojo Takayuki is, as a Hojo, truly unbeatable when it comes to Chinese cuisine and, next to his sister, the very best in his club."

"I see." Hiraku leaned back in his seat and set his focus to the arena again.

Kaori had only crossed her arms and stared at Takayuki. _Consider yourself lucky and don't mess it up._ She thought.

As Takayuki finally arrived in front of Kimiko, Daisuke actually wanted to continue his hosting, but Kimiko was faster.

"So, you're Hojo Takayuki? You look a little less impressive than I would have thought." Kimiko coldly said, before Daisuke could speak into his microphone and so he only flinched and stared at Kimiko worriedly.

"Well, yes I am.." The realisation what Kimiko just said hit him and instantly Takayuki lost all his cool. "Hah?! What was that?!"

"Well, you do look..." "Yukihira-San, no!" Daisuke interrupted his dormmate in panic, while holding his microphone away from his mouth.

"If I know one thing about Hojo Takayuki is that you don't comment on his height." Kenshin shivered. "He's freaking tiny tough." Harumi carelessly stated, resulting in Kenshin screeching. "Tsujimoto-senpai!"

Meanwhile, Takayuki had started to growl at a frightened Daisuke. "No, no let her say that insult, so she will be more sorry after I completely destroyed her! Why are you so concerned anyways? And calling her 'Yukihira-San'? Can it be, that you're biased?"

"N...No..." Daisuke stammered, while backing away. Takayuki's sister sighed and shook her head. "Oh my god, Takayuki what are you doing again."

"Hey! Only I am allowed to frighten him like that." Hideyoshi barked above.

"Leave the MC alone." Kimiko sharply demanded which made Takayuki turn.

"Let's leave the basic trash talk out of the way, alright? We both know what we're here for. You want an..." Her face darkened. "...apology."

"Exactly." Takayuki replied in a grim manner. "I just have to teach some brat, that clearly doesn't have any idea what Totsuki actually is, some manners."

Kimiko remained silent first, just glaring at her challenger. So Takayuki only turned to the pale, shaking Daisuke again and unfriendly spat. "Can we continue now?"

"I may not know much about this school."

A little surprised about her talking again, Takayuki set his focus back to Kimiko. So did the audience.

"But I know my skills." Kimiko stated before her voice got a little louder and she pointed at her opponent. "You on the other hand, do _not_ know my skills. Granted, I do neither know yours but I am not assuming out of the blue that you're below me. However the mere fact how you demand such a ridiculous action from me, makes this assumption more plausible. You think I can not take the top? How can you judge when you didn't even saw me cook? You may call it arrogance, I call it confidence. And you... _you underestimated me_."

Takayuki's left eye twitched, while Daisuke's eyes had become very round.

"Listen here, today I will show you." Kimiko laid her hand over her chest and yelled. "That my speech didn't came from nothing."

Hiraku raised an eyebrow.

Kaori angrily gritted her teeth.

Hiroshi gasped and bewilderedly stuttered. "Ki...Kimiko-San."

"Tch." Came from his cousin beside him, who bitterly grinned. "And that idiot got to face her first."

"What did you get yourself into?" Takayuki's sister mumbled suspiciously while looking at her brother.

Takayuki clutched his fist and stared at Kimiko angrily, while she turned to Daisuke. "You can continue now Aoki."

He gave a timid, soft nod an stammered into the microphone. "W...well...The Theme of t..today's...Sho...Shokugeki is fish. In case of a win for the French RS, presented by Yukihira Kimiko, the Chinese RS has to give up their standard bout place at this year's Moon Banquet Festival to the French RS while also providing assisting for the Festival and some cooking utensils. In case of a win for the Chinese RS, presented by Hojo Takayuki..." Daisuke took a deep breath and practically mumbled the next words into the microphone. "Yukihira Kimiko has to apologise for her words at the entrance ceremony while also taking what she said back. In addition Tsujimoto Harumi has to give her designer purse to Hojo Suzume."

Suzume just couldn't help it but to wave to Harumi with a smug grin. Thankfully Kenshin could stop his senpai from showing that certain finger.

Kimiko and Takayuki exchanged two last glares, before moving to their respective cooking stations as Daisuke lifted his hand.

"Begin...Cooking."

And with that the Shokugeki began.

Not one of the two candidates hesitated and immediately started working. With the basic introduction being over, the crowd became a little more noisy again, commenting the actions of the chefs.

"Look!" Hiroshi exclaimed and pointed to Takayuki, who was approaching a blue box used to keep ingredients cold. "He's already..." Mika started and host Daisuke finished the sentence. "Looks like Hojo Takayuki is already pulling out his fish."

Indeed. Confidently Takayuki opened said blue blox and revealed a grey, lifeless fish to lay inside, between sparkling ice cubes.

As someone who grew up near ports, Hiroshi instantly knew what was in front of him. "So, he will be going for cod!"

"In Chinese Cuisine the usual ways to go when preparing fish are deep-frying, stir-frying and steaming." Hiraku rambled to himself, while watching Takayuki slicing the fish open. "I wonder what approach he is going to take."

"I heard that he's especially known for good Sichuan Cooking." His assistant noted.

Takayuki had already pulled out a new thing. A glass with a deep red paste in it.

"Hm?" "What's that?" You heard within the audience.

"Uh, just looking at it makes me sweat." Hideyoshi panted. Yasu agreed. "You're right, it does look very spicy."

"Ahhh...Chiu-Chow Sauce!" Chinese-Expert Haruka excitedly exclaimed.

"A sauce originating from Chiu Chow in China made off chili peppers and garlic." Chieko murmured to herself.

"Even my own homemade one." Takayuki announced towards Haruka.

Akai clapped her hands together. "Nice, I love spicy food." Next to her Ichiro inspected the paste a little closer. After doing so, he raised an eyebrow at Takayuki and pointed at the glass questioning. "Is that..?"

"Correct." Takayuki answered and began to open the glass.

"Look Itoko-Chan!" Hiroshi pointed out upwards. "There's not just Chiu-Chow-Sauce inside...but also..."

"Shrimp!" The Polar Star students realised all together.

"A Chiu-Chow-Shrimp-Mixture?"

"What will he use that for?"

Meanwhile, Kimiko finally was done cutting through her vegetables and now she also moved to a blue box.

"Looks like, now it's Yukihira's time to pull out her fish-" Daisuke couldn't help but gasp as Kimiko opened her blue box. Like Takayuki's box it contained ice, but unlike Takayuki's box it didn't just had one fish, no, it had squid, scallops, perch and a lobster.

While the audience was trying to come up with what Kimiko would cook, Harumi and Hiraku knew it instantly. "Bouillabaisse." They both said at the same time.

Harumi lectured. "Like Coq Au Vin, Bouillabaisse is a very known, traditional French dish. A fish soup originating from the seaside of Marseille."

"Bouillabaisse is said to have it's roots in normal commoner food. The saying goes, back then the finer used the leftovers of the fish they couldn't sell and made a dish out of them." Hiraku elaborated, not noticing the admiring look his assistant was giving him.

 ***CLONK***

The audience attention switched once again, at the sound of Takayuki closing the oven and moving on to prepare something else.

"So he's baking the fish!"

"But what happened to Chiu-Chow-Shrimp-Mixture?"

Meanwhile Kimiko was calmly handling her ingredients, not taking any note of what her opponent was doing.

"Is she...just making plain Bouillabaisse?" One of the members of the French RS asked unsurely. The other's exchanged looks or agreed to the fellow. Only Kenshin and Harumi knew better and asked themselves what twist Kimiko would add to the soup.

And so time went on and on. Both candidates pulled trough creating their planned recipes while the audience watched them.

And well at some point, Daisuke raised his hand again. It was the point at which both Takayuki and Kimiko had completed their dish. Just in time.

"aaand...Time is up!" Daisuke informed, while the digital counter on the screen also showed "00:00". Immediately both parties took a step away from their creations and turned to the judges.

"So who'll go-" Once again Daisuke couldn't finish his sentence.

"I'll go first." Takayuki announced and made his way to the judging table. Daisuke sighed. "Seems like Hojo Takayuki will serve first."

On Takayuki's plate was the whole, baked cod. Golden-brown rice laid next to it and you could see that a sauce had coated a lot of parts of the dish.

"Serving the whole fish is quite common in China." Chieko commented. "It symbolises status and wealth."

"Looks like he fried the rice." Yasu added.

"But, again, where did the shrimps go?" Mika asked.

"Interesting, to serve a complete cod." Akai said, while lifting her chopsticks. Ichiro nodded in approval.

"Now, now. I just want to warn you guys, this will probably be a very hot and spicy experience looking at the sauce." Haruka speculated and turned to Takayuki. "Am I right?"

"You are." Takayuki replied. "The sauce indeed is quite hot. I present to you... _Cod on Fire_."

"Very well then, let's see."

Slowly the judges all took their first bite, while the silent audience watched in curiosity and tension.

Immediately after the first bite was taken, all three eye pairs widened.

 _The three adults saw themselves merciless be thrown into red, hot flames which ripped their clothes apart and heated every inch of their body._

"Ah! It burns, it burns!" Akai whined but shovelled more of the fish into her mouth. Ichiro's face had gotten red and he started to sweat, while muffling between the bites. "This is _beyond_ a 'spicy and hot experience'."

"I thought that only the sauce would be spicy, but I was dead wrong!" Haruka wailed.

The audience was confused.

"What's going on?!"

"What else could there be but the sauce?"

Hiraku muttered. "I think I know what he did."

Just in that moment, Haruka's sweaty hands cut open the fish for all to see. To everyone's amazement something red swelled out of the baked fish.

Everyone realised it at the same time.

"The shrimps!"

"So it's a stuffed, baked cod!" Hiroshi concluded taken aback. "Stuffed with Chili-Shrimps to be exact." Mika gulped. "Boy, eating this dish really must be like a trip to the desert."

"The rice doesn't helps mild the taste at all." Akai panted with heavily reddened cheeks. And still she took another bite. "But it tastes so good."

Haruka looked absolutely pleased and praised. "Sauce and stuffing go so well and despite it being so hot, you just can't stop."

The Chinese RS exchanged prideful looks. Takayuki smirked. "There's also bell pepper, garlic and peas in the fried rice. Naturally, I also used Sichuan Peppercorns in sauce."

"Oh man, this dish has a great impact indeed." Kenshin muttered, while Harumi gritted her teeth.

Akai had taken out a purely white tissue and wiped away the sweat. She cleared her throat, still a little overwhelmed and said afterwards. "Truly a well dish with a strong flavour..." Being a little overheated she took a deep breath and requested. "N...Next one, please."

Takayuki bowed before leaving the spot in front of the judges table. "Thanks for the praise."

He didn't even bothered to look at Kimiko, who shot a last smile into the direction of Harumi and Kenshin, before she attended the judging.

Hiroshi folded his hands together while Mika clutched her fist.

Hiraku an Kaori both leaned forwards a little as the Honey Blonde arrived at the judging table.

"And now let's move on to the judging of the next candidate." Daisuke informed. "Yukihira Kimiko, please show your dish."

" _Bouillabaisse with Seafood and Perch_ , let it hopefully satisfy you." Kimiko presented the plates she had placed in front of the three adults.

Ichiro, who had been rather silent most of the time, suddenly got quite ecstatic as he saw the bowl of soup, the bowl with the seafood and perch and the pieces of baguette around it.

"Ahh, even served separately! Very traditional! It sure does look promising."

"Looking good." Mika grinned and Hiroshi gave an excited nod.

"She even used baguette, the famous, traditional, French bread!" Chieko noted with a smile and added. "A good Bouillabaisse is always served with bread."

"But..." Yasu muttered, making everyone turn to him. "...will it be as impactful as Hojo Takayuki's dish?"

A little concern showed on Chieko's face, while Mika crossed her arms. Hiroshi swallowed.

The judges took their spoons and Akai purred. "Let's get going then, Gentlemen shall we?"

They put the separate fish into their broth and took the first slurp.

Then they stiffened.

 _...The sound of slow waves crashing into the beach reached their ears. Akai, Haruka and Ichiro found themselves standing in warm sand and in front of the wide, wide, sparkling blue sea._

 _It was defiantly a nice, pleasing sight for them._

 _..._

 _..._

 _Considering how hot the sun burned on their skins._

Akai was the first to speak. It was an overwhelmed yell. "Oh, this is spicy as well!"

The many eyes watching them grew wider at that statement.

Kenshin and Harumi exchanged looks.

Kaori flinched.

Hiroshi repeated. "Sp...Spicy...?"

The rest of the Polar Star members looked completely flabbergasted as well.

The Chinese RS finally snapped out of their prideful state for once.

Hiraku smirked.

Takayuki swung around, with bewilderedness spread on his face.

Kimiko grinned.

"I...It's not as spicy as the former but defiantly spicy..." Haruka stammered completely taken off-guard. "Just what have you put in there, kiddo?"

"A little chili." Kimiko stated. "Also Szechuan Pepper, garlic, tofu and bamboo."

You heard a lot of "What"'s and "I can't believe it"'s within the crowd.

"That doesn't sounds very western." Hideyoshi gawked. "Just what is her scheme?"

"Garlic and Szechuan pepper..." Hiraku's assistant repeated. "Sounds quite Sichuan."

"But Tsujimoto Ichiro has not said anything yet!" Hideyoshi pointed out, looking at the adult man who was still slurping the soup.

"You're right..." Yasu responded, while Chieko pushed up her glasses a little nervously. "This man is absolutely knowledgeable about French cuisine after all..."

Mika clutched her fist once again and muttered. "Come on, Yukihira. You can't loose against that whimp without having faced me first. Show me, that you're a worthy rival."

"Kimiko-San..." Hiroshi whispered and looked desperately to the elderly judge.

Suddenly he had an outburst.

"God - frikkin - damnit, man! Fuck, this is good."

An absolute shocked "Haaaaaaah?!" went trough the crowd.

"Eeeks!" Akai squeaked at hearing such foul words, while Haruka couldn't believe what what he saw. "N..Now where's that coming from?"

Even Kimiko tucked her head. "Pardon?"

"My father seems to like it a lot. He always reacts this way, when he does." Harumi cleared her throat, ignoring all the disturbed looks shot to her.

"You two really are father and daughter." Kenshin deadpanned, remembering the thug-attitude that the president could show off.

"Despite making some changes, you cooked it just like a Bouillabaisse has to be cooked." Ichiro now elaborated, not minding all the looks that demanded an explanation for his swearing. "Also...the fish...It's handled fucking great!"

"Oh boy..." Haruka sweatdropped but Aiko suddenly had a wide smile on her face as well. "I noticed too! The fish tastes splendid."

"I made sure to get very good quality ones." Kimiko explained. "And I washed them in seawater as well."

"Your care for the fish clearly shows." Ichiro responded and he took another spoon full of the soup.

"Now that I think about it..." Haruka suddenly recalled. "I don't remember tasting such a good fish in the former dish."

Takayuki flinched and even Suzume teared up her eyes.

"It seems like the former mostly cared about the spiciness but not the actual main ingredient itself."

Nearly every one of Haruka's words pierced trough Takayuki like a knife.

But he did not understand.

 _They liked it didn't they?_

 _Everyone likes his spicy cooking?_

 _Also...also..._

 ** _No way that this transfer student could be better than him._**

 ***clunk***

The sound of a bowl being placed next to him, disturbed his confused thoughts and he slowly turned to see Kimiko wordlessly placing her Bouillabaisse next to him.

She held eye contact for three seconds, before swiftly turning away and returning to her station.

Unsurely Takayuki took the spoon and dived it into the soup.

And as soon as it touched his tongue, he found himself at the beach as well.

 _Damnit._

He teared up his eyes and gritted his teeth.

 _Damnit. Damnit. DAMNIT!_

 _This was..._

 _This was..._

 _..._

 ** _Good._**

It truly overcame the level most of the Totsuki's students were on. This was the kind off cooking that would last. This was the kind off cooking that could match the other aces of the 115th Generation.

This was worthy of consideration for... _the top_.

 ** _Damnit._**

"Honourable judges." Daisuke spoke. "Would you please cast your vote?"

Without further ado, the judges slammed the button.

"I underestimated her." Takayuki whispered weakly, well-knowing that his sister was giving him a dark glare.

He did not know tough, that Kimiko had took a bite off his fish and was...pleasantly surprised.

And just in that moment, the result appeared on the screen accompanied by Daisuke's exclaim.

 **Yukihira Kimiko vs. Hojo Takayuki**

 **3 - 0**

 **Winner: Yukihira Kimiko**

"And the winner is... **Yukihira Kimiko**!"

Cheers from the French RS. "Good job, Yukihira-Senpai!" Kenshin giggled, while Harumi laughed haughty. "Truly a member of the French RS." But despite her pride, she hugged her designer purse in relief.

"As expected." Hiraku shrugged, while his assistant said. "Is everyone in your family very talented or what?"

"She won!" Hiroshi happily yelled the obvious. His cousin grinned. "I just want to face off against you even more now."

"Looks like her opening speech really was more than just empty, haughty words with nothing behind it." Yasu acknowledged and couldn't hide the slightly impressed tone. Chieko excitedly clapped her hands together. "Truly a talented chef has joined Polar Star indeed." While Hideyoshi shouted next to them. "Way to go, Yukihira!"

Kaori had already stood up at the reveal of the result.

 _Who was I to think that anyone else would do any good on this school? Matters are in my hand as usual._

You also heard a lot of comments in the audience.

"Amazing!"

"She truly is related to Hiraku-Sama, I'm sure now."

"Amazing that the French RS was able to recruit her!"

"They must be a pretty good club, after all."

Lola, who had watched from the shadows, chuckled and turned away as well. "Time to get my reward from Tsujimoto-Senpai."

Kimiko pumped her fist into the air and yelled. "Glad you liked it!"

"With Yukihira's win, the French RS will get the standard bout place of the Chinese RS in the Moon Banquet Festival, as well as assisting during said festival and a few cook utensils." Daisuke reminded. "That's the end of today's Shokugeki. Thanks a lot for watching."

Takayuki was down on the ground and only stared at the floor. He couldn't bring up the courage to face the disappointed, leaving Chinese RS or the slightly angered look of his big sister.

Just as he thought it couldn't get any worse, the voice he wanted to hear the least right now reached his ear. "Yo, Hojo."

Takayuki looked up and faced Kimiko, who stood in front of him.

"What?" Takayuki bitterly asked, expecting mocking or laughing.

"Your dish was pretty good as well. You're talented. Maybe...we can face up again some other time...But don't demand such nonsense from me again, alright?" Was all she said before turning away just as quickly and moving to the exit. The left behind Takayuki could only watched in awe, hearing the comments of his classmates around him.

"Man, the transfer student really is something, huh?"

"She clearly did prove, that she meant what she said during the entrance ceremony."

* * *

Kimiko stretched herself and yawned.

This had been fun.

She liked the idea behind Shokugekis more and more and couldn't wait for the next one to occur.

But first, it was time to get back to the dorm again.

In the wardrobe, assigned to her, she got changed back into her school uniform.

After that she left the wardrobe and made her way to the exit.

As she stepped outside, to her surprise she didn't met just her dormmates there, but also her brother and nearly the rest of the former audience.

Hiraku had crossed this arms and smiled at Hiraku, he was accompanied by a tanned boy in the same age as him with pink hair and green eyes, holding a clipboard and inspecting Kimiko closely.

The other students had formed a half circle around him and always switched looks from Hiraku to Kimiko and back.

Kimiko just raised an eyebrow at her brother, silently asking him why he wanted.

The crowd, still was absolutely silent and just staring at the duo.

Then Hiraku took one step towards her.

"Good day, little sis."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 _So that was it, the longest chapter so far. Hope you liked it._

 _I did a lot a lot of research for this one, but I still feel so dumb either way. If there is some wrong information or just something that you can't get into your head, please tell me. (I can just imagine how I actually already made some chef cringe with what I did...) Esp. Kimiko's Bouillabaisse was a pain._

 _Next Chapter is going to be the very last of the Introduction Arc. of "Shokugeki no Kimiko"_

 _I hope I get it done next week, so that I achieved my goal to get trough the Introduction Arc. during my holidays._

 _Also, I'll get a little surprise ready for next week uwu_

 _But for now, thanks a lot for reading and I hope I can greet you again next chapter._

 _Have a great day everyone!_

 **Author's Note End**


	9. Chapter 8

**Author's Note**

 _Oh my god, what is that? An update?_

 _Yeah, sorry, but right in the last week of my summer holidays I was hit with a little writers block and then school already kicked in and I just didn't came to finish. But now, after the long await. I can finally present you Chapter 8!_

 _Hopefully...Hopefully, Chapter 9 will follow very soon...But as always, I can't promise._

 _But well, I really hope you will enjoy this chapter...I really don't know how it will be received and what you all will think about it._

 _Thanks for the continued support, despite my inactivity and let's get to the review replies (also I have the little surprise prepared...It will be revealed at the end of the chapter OvO)_

 **Anon:** Very glad to hear that you're enjoying the story. I hope this chapter will be of your liking as well ^w^

 **Dknight27:** Thanks so much for your kind words, such reviews are what keep me motivated. Also, while I do think there are ways to improve for me...I am just so honored that you said, that the Shokugeki I wrote felt like the Manga. It's a really big compliment for me, thank you a lot.

 **TsubakiTwilight:** Oh my, you have no idea how happy your review made me. It gave me the major boost to finally continue in all honesty. I am so glad to hear that you enjoy the characters, as well as the overall story so far. I am really not good in replying but your review really made me very happy and thank you a lot for taking your time and writing it. I really hope that you'll like this chapter as well o w o;;

 _So Let's Start_

 **Author's Note End**

* * *

"Good day little sis."

Although a huge amount of students stood together, it was so silent, you could have heard a leaf falling to the ground.

Everyone was just staring, with eyes round as snow globes, at the two siblings in front of them.

Hiraku and Kimiko both wore a stoic expression. They only stared at each other, stretching this moment of silence even further.

The pink-haired boy who accompanied Hiraku, stood perfectly still and had closed his eyes, patiently waiting. Mika Aldini on the other hand, who stood within the crowd, looked like someone had punched her right in the stomach with an iron fist. Her cousin next to her, looked nervously around his peers, while playing with his fingers.

Hideyoshi and Daisuke stared at the scenery with their jaws hung low. Next to them, Chieko adjusted her glasses with a mildly surprised expression. Her best friend Yasu had only crossed his arms and awaited for something to happen.

Finally Kimiko opened her mouth, to end the suffering of her classmen.

"Oh hey, Hiraku."

...Or not. The student's eyes grew even wider and they exchanged hasty looks.

Hiraku's expression didn't changed a bit, so Kimiko only continued. "So, what's with this big entrance? And where have you been the past few days actually?"

"I was busy." Hiraku retorted and yawned afterwards.

Now finally soft whispers could be heard in the crowd again.

Kimiko tilted her head and was reminded of the entrance ceremony, where she had heard her brother's name as well. What was everyone's deal? In a school with _this many_ students it probably wasn't rare that cousins or siblings attended the school together. The Aldini cousins but also the Nakiri twins would be an example in her year alone. She really didn't found it all too spectacular.

"So...So..." Kimiko heard Daisuke's voice clearly above the rest and turned her head, signalising she was listening to him. His eyes were as round as everyone else's and he stood together with the rest of Kimiko's dormmates, who looked at her expectingly as well.

"You're really related to..."

"Hm?" A little smile appeared on Kimiko's face and she laughed nonchalantly. "Yes, me and Hiraku are siblings. I didn't know you all knew him, so I saw no point in telling you."

Dumbfoundedness spread on the student's faces and now nobody could keep it in.

"EHHHHHHHHHHHH?!"

As the unanimous, loud yell of shock was over, all the different voices separated into thousands of different little conversations again.

"So, she _is_ related to Hiraku-Sama!"

"The sister of the 'Tongue gifted from Angels' or for short the 'Holy Tongue'! Incredible!"

"She might be some serious competition for Kaori-Sama!"

"The top spot may does belong to her after all!"

"Ki...Kimiko-Sama!"

'Kimiko-Sama' was quite confused. She bewilderedly looked around her, inspecting the various gossips and rumours coming up within seconds, as well as the admiring looks.

She had been sure that Hiraku was the best in his year, but not that he was _that_ admired and known.

Kimiko didn't even remembered the name of the ace in her former school and no one made a big deal out of it there either.

She then heard Hiroshi's voice. "So, it was revealed after all." He sighed.

Immediately Hideyoshi swung around and gawked. "Don't tell me you knew this."

Daisuke, Chieko and Yasu also turned to Hiroshi with a surprised expression.

The blue haired boy let out a nervous little laughter. "Eh..heh, well Itoko-chan and me once witnessed how Kimiko-San was approached by Nakiri Lola and Mona, who are Yukihira-Senpai's cousins. They called Kimiko-San their cousin, so-" He couldn't finish the sentence as Hideyoshi interrupted him. "And you didn't even thought about telling us?!"

"I am wondering as well, Mika-cchi!" Chieko voiced and eyed the Quarter-Italian who didn't looked as tanned as she should look.

"Now look, I didn't knew how Kimiko-San would feel about it, so I just kept it to myself." Hiroshi apologised. He looked to his cousins afterwards. "And I think Itoko-Chan surpressed this fact since she knows it."

Mika still was unable to move and bitterly mumbled. "Siblings...they're actually siblings. Not cousins or something like that, but siblings...Yukihira is Hiraku-Sama's sister..."

"Fair enough." Yasu shrugged. "Yukihira seems to have no problem with it and the discussion about this is finally off the table now."

"Right." Hideyoshi now exclaimed and a grin crept on his face as he faced his best friend Daisuke. He hold out his hand. "Guess, I have won the bet."

"Do I look like I carry money with me on a normal school day?" Daisuke responded and shot the starting gun for another round of bickering between the two contrasting hosts.

"I still don't get it." Kimiko stated to herself and turned to her dormmates. "What's the deal? We were also on the same school back home and no one freaked out about it."

While Mika still seemed to be paralysed, Hiroshi scratched his head while Yasu and Chieko exchanged one look.

"We told you about the Elite 10, right?" Hiroshi began.

Kimiko nodded.

"...And we were being serious about the admiration they gain within the school." Chieko continued.

Kimiko nodded, slower this time.

"Your brother made quite a name for himself, with claiming the tenth seat as a first year and also a transfer student last year. He moved to the ninth seat recently." Yasu ended.

Kimiko nodded. "Ah...yes, of cou-" She stopped mid-sentence and her pupils rapidly grew as she swung to her brother. "You're _what_?"

Hiraku, who had been patiently waiting, only shrugged and yawned again. "Now that your basic introduction to my school life is over, follow me, Kimiko!"

He swiftly turned around. His assistant unsurely did so as well.

Kimiko's left eye twitched and she frustratedly bit her teeth together. "See you all, later." She quickly said to her dormmates before running after Hiraku shouting. "Oi! Hiraku, care to be a little less confusing?!"

The many eye pairs of classmates followed her, watching in awe, confusion, bewilderedness an curiosity.

"K...Kimiko-cchi's brother surely is something..." Chieko stammered. "And I thought Yukihira was the nonchalant one." Yasu whistled.

"Candy corn is disgusting, period." Daisuke steadily proclaimed. "You just have no palate, that's able to judge! I mean, you voluntary eat licorice! _That's_ disgusting!" Hideyoshi fired back. Yasu turned his head, slightly flabbergasted about the quick change of conversation. "Weren't you arguing about the _bet_?" "Exactly, can you at least stick to the topics of your pointless bickers!" Chieko added, while putting her hands on her hips.

"Eh he he...I mean, who cares if Hiraku-Sa-I mean Yukihira-Senpai is related to Yukihira?! It's absolutely unimportant. I mean...it's not like I like Yukihira-Senpai! I will still defeat Yukihira!"

Mika stuttered, while swaying and holding a balled fist into the air.

"Of course, Itoko-Chan, of course." Hiroshi sighed.

He turned to watch the crowd slowly parting, as Kimiko as well as her brother and his secretary had sat into a black car and drove off.

* * *

 **The Eight Plate - My Brother, the Ninth Seat**

* * *

"So..", Hiraku took a sip from his bottle full of cold tea, "How's school life going so far, Kimiko?"

"Cut the small talk!"

Kimiko had seated in front of her brother, facing him. Next to the by one year older redhead, sat the assistant, who had put out a laptop and eagerly typed on it like his life was on the line. The car's inside was as luxurious as the outside and all in black. The leather seats were comfortable and soft. The window showed the passing of a lot of Totsuki's many buildings as well as trees and other nature, making Kimiko question once again how big a sole school can be.

Confusion showed on Hiraku's face. "Hm?" "Don't act like this is a typical after-school-conversation!" Kimiko reprimanded. "You picked me up in a _high-class car_."

Hiraku still didn't seemed to understand.

"Where have you been?" Kimiko leaned forwards a bit and crossed her arms, signalising that she was expecting an answer.

"Busy." Hiraku repeated his answer from before. The assistance gave a clear one instead, while not even looking up from the computer screen. "Ojou spend his time, preparing to claim the ninth seat."

"Yeah, about that.." "Oh, by the way, Kimiko...This is my secretary who volunteered to work for me: Hayama Akio, the tenth seat."

Kimiko blinked.

 _...Hayama?_

Akio could save up one second an look up. "My pleasure, young Kimiko-Sama." "First: Please, don't call me that." Kimiko shook herself at this wording of admiration from a guy who had just met her. Akio seemed to have overheard it tough. "And Second: Do you possibly have a sister or cousin in my year, Hayama-Senpai?"

The typing noise faded as Akio's fingers stopped moving. He didn't looked up and only said. "You mean, Hayama Kaori?" "Yep." Kimiko gave a nod.

A sigh escaped Akio and he started typing again. "Yes, Kaori is indeed my little sister. But don't talk about that to her..." His following words were spoken under clenched teeth and sounded rather bitter. "...she _apparently_ doesn't likes to talk about it."

Kimiko tilted her head at that answer, but her attention was brought back to her brother again.

"So anyways, Kimiko, what's startling you?"

Kimiko turned her head immediately. "A lot of things! Why do I learn out of the blue that you're in that Elite Ten thing? You have never mentioned it, once!"

"You didn't asked, I didn't know you'd care. I mean, it seemed like you don't care about Totsuki _at all_ back home. You never asked _any_ question." Hiraku scratched his head. Kimiko groaned. He was right, she didn't care about her new school.

"Of course, I don't. Why are you? And why is everyone calling you 'Hiraku-Sama'? You're from a diner!"

Hiraku pointed at himself and a little smirk appeared on his lips.

"But I have talent and a tongue 'gifted from Angels'."

With that he looked away, a signal that this conversation was over. Kimiko blinked and tilted her head. "You've...what?"

"Great work in the Shokugeki today, although I don't understand why you participated for the French RS." Hiraku said while looking absently out of the window, skipping the question.

Kimiko only raised an eyebrow but decided to fight with the same weapons. "Thanks, oh and referring to your question earlier, school life is fine."

She saw how Hiraku grinned but still kept his gaze locked to the blurry outside behind the window. Kimiko decided to not add anything either. Akio was too busy to talk.

* * *

"So here we are." Hiraku announced as the three of them had exited the car. "This is the former gathering place of the Vegetarian RS." Akio gave further explanation to Kimiko. "Former?" The blonde asked.

Akio nodded, silently telling her that she heard correct. "Hiraku-Sama was in need of a kitchen to experiment. A Shokugeki handled the deal."

"Aha..." Kimiko responded.

Her brother really did a lot, a lot of stuff in this one year on this crazy school.

"So Hiraku will your riddles finally have an end?" Kimiko asked her brother, as soon as the trio had entered the empty but huge kitchen.

She flinched as Akio spoke up. "Hiraku-Sama, I just wanted to remind you, that you've one and a half hour before your next appointment."

Hiraku halfway turned around and eyed the two. "Thanks, Hayama." He swung around again and approached the high class fridge, to prepare whatever this mystery of a mind was planning.

"My deepest condolences, by the way." Kimiko muttered to Akio's side. "Pardon?" Was the more than confused response.

"Eh...As I got introduced to you, I still was just too busy figuring my brother out..to notice that you actually took over the most challenging task in the entire universe!"

Akio tucked his head, still not understanding. So Kimiko elaborated further. "I mean, being the secretary to such an airhead must be incredibly hard work, huh?"

"You do realise you're talking about your own brother, Miss?" "Of course I do!" Kimiko flipped one of her two pigtails and crossed her arms afterwards. "And as his sister I know that you rarely meet such a unorganized person with a mind all over the place. Not to mention, the obliviousness of this guy! Only our Dad could challenge him in that."

Akio blinked in silent response. His face now showed a slight astonishment as well as an heavy perplexity. Like Kimiko just spoke in a foreign language to him.

"Oh well...Not important."

The awkward silence that build up afterwards was thankfully interrupted by Hiraku. "So here it is."

The redhead had laid different types of fish on the table and now pulled out a wok.

Kimiko decided to leave Akio and his odd, undying loyalty and walked towards her brother, curious to finally find out what was going on. "Ah, Kimiko." Hiraku called out at the sight of the blonde girl standing in front of him, with hands on her hips. "So now that everything's prepared...Let's start."

He pointed to the fish. "I know you already worked with fish today, but that made me really eager for it...Please, prepare a wok with using one of these fishes."

Kimiko froze and stared quite dumbfounded. Hiraku walked past her but tapped encouragingly on Kimiko's shoulder while doing so. "I know you can do this, Kimi. Have Fun!"

Kimiko snapped out of her frozen state and gawked, even more confused than before. "You brought me here...into the absolute nowhere...after such an mysterious act... _to cook_? After I just had a Shokugeki?!"

Hiraku turned his head sideways. "Hm? Is there a problem with that?"

That familiar frustration with Hiraku's nonchalantness crawled up Kimiko again and she clenched her fist, while gritting her teeth. "Hngh...Yeah, kind off. You and your...argh!"

Hiraku pulled up an eyebrow, as if Kimiko was the one acting strange and missing an obvious point. "Are you gonna start cooking now or not?" He grinned. "Or is that too high for you?"

That was it. Kimiko grabbed the first knife near her and spat. "Too high? I'll show you 'too high'. Just wait, you arrogant pile of yogurt."

"'Pile of yogurt'?" Akio repeated. Hiraku only led out a jolly laughter and shook his head. "Take what you need."

"Humph." Kimiko turned away from her brother and started to inspect the many closets that could be found in this giant kitchen. She opened them one by one and glanced over the many ingredients, all familiar to thousands of different cuisines. Bamboo sprouts and potatoes. Soy sauce and wine. Mangos and apples.

After a long look around, she finally cracked her knuckles and exclaimed. "Alright, I guess I have an idea."

Quickly she gathered the things useful for her plan and started to work.

It didn't took long, before a refreshing almost summery fragrance filled the enormous kitchen.

The Wok was sizzling and like usual Kimiko ignored all of her surroundings and was focused on the Wok's inside and the Wok's insides only.

Akio looked up again and sniffed. "Lemongrass." He then stated, absolutely sure. "Mixed with Coconutmilk and I can also sense the scent of ginger...furthermore..." "Oh come on, Hayama! We get that your nose is awesome, but don't spoil the fun." Hiraku interrupted.

"I...I am so...so sorry...!" Akio stuttered. "It's just..." Hiraku made a handgesture telling him to calm down. "It's okay, I was partially just messing with you. After all, your impressive sense for fragrance is one of the many reasons why you're my secretary."

Akio nodded and hastily got back to work again. Hiraku turned to watch his sister again handling the Wok.

"Done! 'A Tropical Summer Memory'!" Kimiko then called out, after finishing. She presented the two plates to her brother and his assistant, with a confident smile.

It showed sticky rice and on it, there were all sorts of different vegetables as well as fried nuggets.

"Let it hopefully satisfy you!"

"Thanks for the food." Hiraku and Akio said in unison.

 _Tasting the dish was like plunging into the tropical waters of the Pacific Ocean._

 _Completely stripped off of their clothings, Hiraku and Akio found themselves in refreshingly cold and also clear water surrounded by thousands of colourful corals and fishes._

 _Bright sunlight broke trough the water and reached them from above the world, while the seaweed calmly swayed with the waves._

 _"How calming..." Akio thought while watching the clownfish play between the anemones._

 _Hiraku smiled and turned his head to watch a few plastic bottles, slowly sink to the ground._

"As I thought, you used a Coconutmilk-Lemongrass-Sauce and even added carefully cut pieces of ginger as well as kaffir-limeleafs into the rice. Which all come together in a soothing harmony." Akio enunciated back in the real world.

Kimiko's smile grew. "Yep! Good catch there. Seeing these ingredients laying around here was the major inspiration for this dish."

"Kaffir-limes originate from the tropics of Asia, but are nowadays also planted in the Caribbean." Hiraku lectured. "The way Kimiko used their leaves is common in Thailand and Vietnam, where they cut the leaves into paper-thin slices." He looked at Kimiko. "Dad showed you that, huh?"

Kimiko shook her head. "Actually Mom did."

"The main part of the dish, though..." Akio now spoke up. "Is the fried fish." "Oh yes, of course." Hiraku acknowledged.

The two were referring to the nuggets that laid within the rice.

"Fish and Squid nuggets." Hiraku pointed out, resulting in an "Exactly" from Kimiko. Akio took another bite. "Accompanied by Bamboo sprouts, mungo-bean sprouts and carrots. It all plays well together and gives you a taste of summer and the tropics!"

Kimiko's eyes gleamed and she halfway bowed. "Thanks for the praise."

"There are just a few plastic bottles swimming around in the ocean you created." Hiraku smiled, which made Akio immediately look at him in eager of what's about to come.

All light immediately went out of Kimiko's face as she also knew what was about to come. She suppressed a grumble and only looked at him as well, pulling up an eyebrow.

"The nuggets, while being an excellent idea, still have a little too much taste of oil on them for me. Also, you could have steamed the fish a little longer. A little less Coconutmilk would have done it and you could have used a bit more ginger."

"Wow..." Akio said in awe, while Kimiko pouted. "Yeah, Yeah."

Hiraku stood up with a satisfied look on his face. "Mom would probably find more minor mistakes but it was a good dish none or less." "Thanks." Kimiko sighed and began to clean the table she had worked on.

"I think I'll teach you a little more with Woks. But for now, I'll call the first lesson a success."

Kimiko stopped cleaning. Slowly she looked up and eyed her brother sharply. "First lesson?" She repeated in a voice that indicated hope that she heard wrong. Because if she didn't, she clearly wouldn't understand.

"Oh! Yes, of course. I didn't told you yet..." Hiraku exclaimed. "Well, Kimiko. From now on, I'll teach you. You'll be picked up every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and-" "Teach me?"

So Kimiko's hearing wasn't incorrect. "Why the hell would you teach me? We're both mostly self thaught...What could you teach me, that I couldn't figure out myself, sometime?"

Akio stopped typing for once. He avoided eye contact with both Yukihiras and only stared uncomfortably to the ground. The room was silent. Kimiko's golden eyes were burning, demanding an answer to such nonsense. They bore trough Hiraku's calm and cool purple eyes.

"Kaviar." Hiraku stated. "You have no idea of how to make use of it."

"And what's the deal? Kaviar is not a matter in Yukihi-" "In a _diner_ you want to say." Hiraku sharply cut her off.

A small gasp escaped Kimiko and she teared up her eyes in shock. Hiraku remained cold and didn't broke the eye contact. Akio still tried to be invisible.

After a long silence, Kimiko was finally able to respond. "W...What?"

Hiraku sighed, similar to a teacher repeating the same thing for the sixth time. "Oh come on, Kimiko."

As his sister only continued to stare at him not understandingly, he understood that he had to say more. "Take a look around this school." He said, dead serious. "Person A is coming from High Class restaurant B. Person B's parent is the famous chef C and so it goes on and on. Point is, everyone here comes from a meaningful background."

Now Kimiko nearly looked disgusted. "You can't be serious! Really Hiraku, I hope you're not about to say what I think you're going to say."

Hiraku remained emotionless and his following words bore trough his younger sister.

"I am tired of being a No-Name."

The atmosphere got thicker and thicker. Akio personally felt like in a closed room with no doors and windows, the walls coming nearer and nearer threatening to squash.

Kimiko's jaw hung loose. She now looked at Hiraku as if he was an alien.

 _Who was this guy? Her brother? No, her brother wouldn't have said something like that._

"...No-Name?" She whispered after a too long silence.

"Kimiko calm down, I swear I am not attacking the diner." Hiraku assured. "In fact, it's a great place that taught me millions of things that a lot of students here have no clue about. And with that incredible gift that is my tongue, I possess the power to crush everyone here."

Kimiko shook her head in disbelief. "Since when do you praise your tongue so much?!" "Since I learned it's true value here!" Hiraku answered. "Students and teachers likewise fall on their knees in front of me. They dubbed my tongue, the "Tongue Gifted From Angels" and I will make use of it."

He crossed his arms and loudly declared. "I will claim the first seat and after graduation, I will turn the Yukihiras into more than just a diner downtown, that nobody ever heard about! I will make it a restaurant that rivals the most praised Elite Chefs. I will give it a true name. And you, Kimiko...You will help, me. That's why you have to go trough some training."

"You...you're insane..." Kimiko stammered in absolute shock. "One year on here and you completely went insane!" She then shouted.

Hiraku rolled his eyes, as if Kimiko was still missing an obvious point. "Now don't scream at me! You should understand me the best after all...Being Part of the _'Jewel-Rebirth'_!"

"The what?!" Kimiko blurted out. First, she didn't understood that term. Second, Hiraku got her quite mad in his nonsense blabbering.

"That's typical." Hiraku responded, he now raised his voice a little as well. "Kimiko, if you would actually give a damn about your surroundings sometime you would have noticed who the people in your Generation actually are. _You_ are part of the 115th Generation! And I am not having my little sister being overshadowed by the Reborn Jewels that dominate this Generation."

Kimiko still didn't understood what point Hiraku was trying to get across to her. "You're crazy." She muttered.

She stared at him for a little longer, before stepping away from the table and making her way to the outside. "And excuse me, but I will not be part of you conquering this dumb school. In fact, _I will do that myself_."

She reached the door, but before she opened it, she turned around a last time and challenged.

"I'll not allow you to make the diner such a lifeless place like you're dreaming it to be! _I'll_ take the first set. And I'll do it without Kaviar!"

With that she was out of the door and slammed it shut loudly.

Silence spread among Hiraku and Akio for the first twenty seconds, before Akio unsurely voiced. "Is everything alright, Hiraku-Sama?"

Hiraku groaned and scratched his head. "Yes, it is. Kimiko had always just been rather fiery. She will snap out of it."

"If you say so..."'Akio said unsurely, before clearing is throat and informing. "Your next appointment is in twenty minutes."

* * *

After minutes of angered stomping around, Kimiko had calmed down enough to realise, that she had no idea where she was.

For all she knew, this school was ridiculously huge and could size-wise probably compare with a lot of smaller cities. The dormitory, or a familiar building to begin with, could be miles and miles away.

Her resolution for this problem then was to pull out her mobile phone. She chose the number she wanted to call and waited for the other person to pick up.

Finally a calm, monotone voice reached her ear, which sounded like it just woke up. "...Yes?" "Uhm...hey Uncle Ryo..."

The other party sounded surprised. "Kimiko?" "Yep...Alright, ehm..I am currently outside and, well, lost. All I know is that I am near the Vegetarian RS and-" "I'll pick you up."

Ryo hung up, leaving Kimiko saying "Uhm...alright?" to nothing.

She didn't knew how long it took, but at some point, a black car stopped near her and a man stepped out of it.

He was muscular, tall and had long, wild, black hair that hung loose an unkept. His eyes were red and decorated with deep eye bags. He wore a black tank top, as well as black trousers and black shoes. This was Alice's husband as well as Lola's and Mona's father and Kimiko's uncle; Ryo Nakiri.

"Sorry, that it took so long." He said in this slow, almost lazy way which Mona inherited from him. "I drove around the Vegetarian RS in search for you."

"Oh it's absolutely okay!" Kimiko immediately assured and ran towards him. "Thanks a lot for picking me up, Uncle Ryo." "No problem." He stated before turning around and getting back into the car.

Kimiko followed and entered on the backseat. "How did you ended up here, actually?" Ryo asked, after starting the car. "Oh...well, uhm...Hiraku brought me here."

"Hiraku?" Ryo questioned. "Why didn't he brought you home afterwards then?" "...We had an argument." Kimiko mumbled.

Ryo sensed that she didn't wanted to talk further about it and only hummed in response.

"Alice put you into Polar Star, right?" Ryo then asked after a short break of talking. Kimiko nodded. "Yes..." "Then I'll bring you there, Hm?"

Another silence followed, in which Ryo just drove to the place he had visited thousands of times as a teenager and Kimiko sunk into her own thoughts.

Visions of her brother appeared in her mind.

A person that was meant to be familiar, suddenly felt like a foreigner to her.

 _"I am tired of being a No-Name."_

...Was he always that arrogant?

 _"Students and teachers likewise fall on their knees in front of me. They dubbed my tongue, the 'Tongue Gifted From Angels' and I will make use of it."_

...It had been like talking to a completely different person.

 _"I will make it a restaurant that rivals the most praised Elite Chefs."_

...Why would he want that? "Restaurant Yukihira" was fine!

 _You should understand me the best after all...Being Part of the **'Jewel-Rebirth'**!"_

Kimiko tilted her head over that one confusing line.

 _"Kimiko, if you would actually give a damn about your surroundings sometime you would have noticed who the people in your Generation actually are. **You** are part of the 115th Generation!"_

"Uncle Ryo?"

"Hm?"

Kimiko gulped and then asked. "Does the term 'Jewel-Rebirth' ring any of your bells?"

Maybe it was something in Kimiko's eye but it seemed as if Ryo actually flinched.

"What did you say?" He then inquired.

"Jewel-Rebirth..?" Kimiko unsurely repeated, surprised by that reaction.

Out of the sudden the car took a sharp turn and changed the route. Before Kimiko could ask, Ryo already explained. "We're going to the Mansion." He sighed. "This matter affects your aunt."

It was like this day threw more and more mysteries towards Kimiko. Had humanity lost the ability to express themselves in clear, understandable ways overnight or what was this?

Kimiko only sighed, mildly tired and reluctantly decided to just wait. What other choice did she had?

* * *

"Alice!" Ryo swung the door open, with no respect for a potential business partner or other important guest that could be sitting there right now. Luckily, that wasn't the case.

Alice was alone in her office and surprisedly looked up at the sudden entrance of her husband as well as her niece. "Huh, Ryo?...and Kimiko?"

"Hey Aunt Alice." Kimiko raised a hand, while Alice's questioning eyes looked to Ryo who only mumbled. "Yo."

After nodding a silent greet, Alice stood up from her desk. "What's the matter of this visit? I am quite busy.." "I know, I know." Ryo sighed. "Hiraku took Kimiko to his private kitchen and I picked her up since she was lost." "And?" "On the way home she told me something..."

Ryo walked up to her, to fill her in on the news. He leaned closely to her ear and whispered something.

Kimiko remained where she was and patiently waited for an reaction of Alice.

The white haired woman's red pupils grew a bit, listening to Ryo description and as her husband was done, she immediately turned to Kimiko. So instantly that the blonde girl flinched a little because of the suddenness.

"Wait a second, please." Alice instructed and pointed to one of the many chairs in her office, before leaving the room hectically.

Slowly Kimiko did as told and sat down.

"So...What's the deal now?" She then asked her Uncle, who had done the same.

"'Jewel-Rebirth' is a term, that we thought you would hear someday but not that soon. It's mostly just used by teachers and not the actual 115th Generation itself." Kimiko didn't said anything and only stared at Ryo, encouraging him to go on. "Alice dislikes this term and is actual in search of a new...'cooler'...title for your generation. But well, at the moment there are people who refer to some special kids in your generation as 'reborn Jewels'."

Kimiko blinked. "Reborn Jewels...?" She queried, just to make sure a last time. After Ryo gave her a nod, she dared to start theorising. "So...There have been... 'Jewels' before?"

"That's exactly the case." Ryo sighed, which made Kimiko tilt her head once again.

The door went open, before anyone could say another word and Alice stepped back into the room. For once, she had a rather serious expression and she looked directly at Kimiko.

Kimiko's questioning eyes rather wandered to the brown book that was in Alice's hand. Before she could voice it, Alice had already read her mind.

"Kimiko."

"Yes?"

"I'll now show it you, the 92nd Generation...

...

...the 'Jewel Generation'."

* * *

It was already dark outside, as Kimiko finally arrived in the Dormitory. In her hand she had the photoalbum, which Alice had gifted to her.

"See you, Kimiko!" Ryo bid her goodbye, before driving off. Kimiko only mildly waved.

"Kimiko-Chan? You're quite late?" A surprised Satoshi called out, as Kimiko had entered. "The others said you left with your brother after the Shokugeki...How was it actually?"

"Good, I won." Kimiko mumbled. "And I met up with my aunt and uncle afterwards, hence why I am late."

Satoshi looked over her from head to toe, before stating his observations. "You do look like you had a long day behind you and quite tired. You probably already ate in the mansion, so do yourself a favour and just go to bed, alright?"

Kimiko nodded relieved. "I'll do that Saothi-San. Good Night." "Good Night Kimiko-chan." Quietly she went over to the stairs and walked upwards.

As she had finally reached her room, she immediately threw herself on the bed.

 _"The teachers tend to call your Generation the 'Jewel-Rebirth"', because it happens to have quite a lot offsprings from former Totsuki students, who attended in the 92nd Generation of Totsuki. The Generation that was dubbed the 'Jewel Generation' afterwards, but that's not important right now...Just take a look into this album."_

Kimiko didn't really knew if this album that her aunt gave her gave any useful answer to all these riddles. It was full of old pictures, a lot of them even showcasing Alice and Ryo as teens. Alongside them were a bunch of other teenagers, all unfamiliar to Kimiko's eye.

Or so you should say.

She had looked trough the album with Alice a little and her aunt had told her quite some names.

Way to many of them sounded way to familiar.

For example, there apparently was a "Miyoko Hojo" whose hair had the same purple as Takayuki Hojo's. There were not that many pictures of her, but a lot of them showed her in a red Chinese attire, handling woks or other things quite familiar to Chinese cuisine.

And this was just one of many "coincidences".

Like how come there was also a black-haired girl named "Urara Kawashima" whose band around the arm classified her as a host?

Or a "Daigo Aoki", whose eyes _just so happened_ to have the same black color as Daisuke Aoki's?

"This is all so strange." Kimiko sighed to herself and laid that odd album on her desk.

 _Why would Hiraku give a damn? Why is he acting so strange at all?_

 _Also what kind off big deal was it to be part of the "Jewel Rebirth"? It just had a lot of famous childs, so what? Wasn't the entire school full of these?_

Kimiko also wondered if it was okay to talk about that with her new dormmates, or if she would come across as strange for not knowing their parents. Also as Ryo had said, the 115th Generation was actually not using this term themselves.

But none or less, she had to find more about this "Jewel Generation", how many descendants of it were actually attending the school and why the term "Jewels" was used to begin with. And of course, what it was that suddenly twisted her brother's mind.

* * *

Alice's look was glued to the window's outside. The darkness and how it was interrupted by a bunch of lights gleaming in it.

 _"Are you sure, that this is what you want?"_

 _"..."_

 _"..."_

 _"...Yes. I am sure."_

 _"Then I will do all that is in my power to support your decision."_

"Alice?"

Totsuki's headmistress turned at the familiar sound of her husband. Ryo's face didn't showed any emotion, but that was typical.

"Yes?"

"You seriously took out the photos that has _them_ on it?" He pointed to the pile of loose photos that Alice safely held in her hands. She gripped them even harder, as if she was afraid Ryo could rib them out of her hands.

She frowned.

"Of course, I did."

She turned back to the window and stated.

"You know that I keep my promises."

A sigh could be heard behind her. "I know."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 _And that's it people, Chapter 8 is over. Next Chapter will **finally** be the starting gun for the Trainings Camp to which I look very forward to. _

_I really hope Ryo doesn't feels OOC by the way, but that's probably up to you..._

 _Also, before we finally get to the surprise, I just want to point out that the dish in this chapter was very inspired by a German Cookbook called "Easy Wok" by Hildegard Möller, which I gifted my mother for birthday. As usually...I hope I didn't messed up too much, culinary-wise._

 _And now, with my chit-chat out of the way...The surprise:_

 _I made a tumblr blog._

 _Okay, okay. Let me explain: Kimiko and most of her friends were actually designed before I started to write a story about them. You see, I just really enjoy drawing a lot. And that's the major reason why I created this blog. **"shokugeki-no-kimiko"** on tumblr is meant to be a fun, little side-element next to the actual fan fiction. I will probably mostly upload some art, but it's also a place where you could ask me questions, maybe request some stuff and it even can get a little absurd sometimes or go into AU territory or something. Of course it also always informs when there is a update._

 _So if you like my story, I would be very happy if you search up the blog..It really means a lot to me and I think it could be a lot of fun._

 _Currently the Blog is still a WIP. For example, a lot of icons are still missing. On the page for the Canon Characters it also showcases how they looked during "Shokugeki no Soma", of course they look different in this story...But I didn't drew it yet O.O;;_

 _Also the blog is not able to give an outlook on the future and only provides information that's already been said in the actual story. I just don't want to spoil anything._

 _But what matters is, that the base is there...And I would really appreciate it, if you would check it out ovo_

 _Search **"shokugeki-no-kimiko" on tumblr** , or just type the name in and leave a .tumblr .com behind._

 _I'll hopefully meet you there and I also hope I will to greet you again next chapter_

 _Thanks a lot for reading, have a wonderful day and byeee!_

 **Author's Note End**


	10. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:**

 _Hi,_

 _I don't know why that it is, but at the moment...every chapter just gets longer and longer. I did consider parting the Chapter into two, but I realized that in further time it will probably get hard for me to update...so yeah, have a rather long chapter for now._

 _Also thank you all so much for the positive feedback on the last chapter, I really hope I'll not going to let any of you down._

 _Before we get to the review replies I want to announce an important change within the story though! **Kimiko does not know anymore that her parents were on Totsuki at all anymore.** Chapter 1 and Chapter 4 have been edited to match that._

 _So, alright...now let's answer the reviews. Thank a lot for them!_

 _ **Anon:** Glad you liked it! Hiraku will sadly not have that much of a role during the Training Camp, I hope that's not a downer. When the camp is over though, he will defiantly return._

 _ **Jules:** Nice to hear that you're enjoying it so far! I hope it's okay, but at the moment I don't really feel like stating all the child's parent right off the bat...I just like to have this kind of unsure feel around, you know? I hope that's okay. Don't worry, every parent will make their appearance and then it's revealed who is who's child._

 _ **1995hzq:** Thanks ! Hope this chapter will be for your liking as well_

 _ **Dknight27:** Ah, your comments are always so nice. I am really glad you like this story as much as you do and I hope that I will not let you down at some point. Yeah, Hiraku and Kimiko's relationship is pretty complicated right now...it will come into much greater play later though...Hope that's okay. _

_**aominesshi:** Thanks a lot for the review, it's always very nice to hear your thoughts. I am glad to hear that Hiraku seems to work well so far._

 _ **iPadAnime4Q:** Glad you like it. I was actually not intending to emerge such a "dark feeling", but well...I am glad to hear that it works? I'll keep what you said in mind, thanks for sharing your thoughts!_

 _ **Shi-chi:** Oh, thanks a lot for those kind words. You're making me blush in all honesty. I really hope, this chapter will be of your liking as well. _

_**Anon:** Oh my god, thanks for taking that look! Yeah, the tumblr is quite empty at the moment...but don't worry...I'll fill it, for sure! It's just hard to do so currently, since school is eating up a lot of my time. But again, thanks for checking the tumblr out. _

_Thanks again so much for leaving a review...and now let's start!_

 **Author's Note End**

* * *

With a soft, disappointed sigh Madoka laid the last letter away. Since she had read the sender's name, she had saved it for the very end in slight anticipation. But it turned out to have the same message, most of the letters had.

She quickly shook her head, telling herself to not bother much. Afterwards the brown-haired, bespectacled woman slowly stood up, packed her things and left the empty library of Totsuki.

While then walking through the hallways, she took out her phone and picked a number, so that she could confirm her job as done.

"Enomoto?"

The sharp voice on the other side never failed to make Madoka flinch a little. "L...Letters are all checked..!" She stuttered into the microphone.

Silence.

It took Madoka three seconds until she realised that the other side awaited an answer. "Two Jewels have announced their presence." "Only two?" The voice asked more than surprised.

Even though pointless, Madoka nodded. "Yes, sadly. The others declined for various reasons."

It had been Madoka's job to look through the letters sent by the alumnis of the infamous 92nd Generation: Responses to the letters sent at the start of the school year by Totsuki. Every alumnus received such a letter every year.

Those letters ask for participation in the upcoming Training Camp. The alumni of course write back to give an answer. And it was the teacher's task to look through them.

Apparently most of the 92nd alumni didn't had much interest this year to show up. Quite surprising for the teachers, since everyone had assumed that they would show up this year in particular to watch their children.

The excuses Madoka had read ranged from "But what if the other children suspect me of bias and start to glare at my child?" to "I already know my little boy is amazing."

Sometimes Madoka really thought that the aces of her ex-generation could be quite odd.

"...So, who is it?" The voice brought her back into reality.

"Oh, ehm, of course!...Well..."

* * *

 **The Ninth Plate - Veggies and Letters**

* * *

"Kimiko-chan~"

The enthusiastic voice of Satoshi crawled trough the rusty speech pipes that connected each and every room in Polar Star Dormitory. It awoke the blonde girl laying on the bed in room 303.

Slowly she turned her tired head to the source of noise. She wanted to ask 'What is it, Satoshi-San?' but there was still a lump in her throat which only managed a "Huh?"

"Kimiko-Chan! Get up!" The pipe beamed. "It's yours and Hiroshi-Kun's turn for field work today. He's probably waiting for you already, so get up and get out!" "F...field work?" Kimiko tried to lean forward a little and ended up rolling out of her bed.

Satoshi laughed. "Of course Kimiko-Chan, don't worry I'm sure you're going to have lots of fun. And remember to embrace youth out there!"

As nothing else followed, Kimiko (laying on the floor) figured that the conversation was probably over. A groan escaped her lips and she slowly stood up from the ground.

She yawned and stretched herself, before reluctantly changing out of her nightwear. As she was supposed to get on the field, she decided to wear functional grey pants, a simple red shirt and a black jacket.

Lastly she put on the white neckerchief and tied her hair into her usual pigtails before leaving the room quietly, as she suspected that many dorm members were still asleep.

While she walked trough the empty hallway, memories of yesterday started to rain on her. She grimaced at the mere thought of her own brother and his nonsense blabbering. But as Kimiko was a little calmer now compared to yesterday, the thought entered her head that it could easily be just some kind of strange puberty phase or something like that. The person she had seen just seemed so unreal, there must be a logical explanation. _He will eventually snap out of these strange thoughts._ Kimiko convinced herself. And boy, will she help bringing her brother back to the ground again!

Then there was also the "Jewels-Generation" and it's strong tie to the 115th Generation that Kimiko had to find out more about. She may knew now who the "Reborn Jewels" were but she still had to bring some sort of meaning into it. She had also decided to not ask the "Reborn Jewels" about this, simply because she doubted that they could help her much while also not wanting to sound awkwardly when asking "Hey, are you Ikumi Mito's daughter?" or something like that. Furthermore, she wanted to view at the people surrounding her as actual people, with their own identity and personality. Not simply descendants of some adults, she hasn't even meet. As soon as she would see nothing but that, she was not better than her brother.

But all the conspiracy and mystery had to wait either way, since now she should focus on finding the field she should work on.

And so, Kimiko fiercely shook yesterday's memories off and focused on her search.

And fortunately, she was not being left on her own: As Kimiko arrived on the empty second floor, she heard the wooden Knarzen of one of the doors and stopped in her walk.

And few seconds later, Yasu Ibusaki was standing in front of her. "Oh good morning, Yukihira-San." He greeted her. "Have you slept well?"

Kimiko gave the tall boy a friendly nod. "Good morning right back at you, Ibusaki! And yep!"

The two began walking down the stairs together, something that didn't stopped them from casual chit-chat. Kimiko was thankful for it, because she hoped that the talk would distract her from comparing her dormmate's face to one of the faces she saw in a certain photobook just yesterday.

"Do you have field work today?" "You got it." Kimiko turned to him. "But what gets _you_ so early out of the bed, Ibusaki? I thought just Hiroshi-Kun and I had field work?" "I always wake up that early." Yasu stated. After a second of silence, he went into further elaboration. "The earlier you awake, the more you have from the day, no?"

Before Kimiko could counter that argument, Yasu already noted. "Also, I am not the only one awake already. You probably will meet some volunteers from the other years on the field and some are also already starting to prepare breakfast. Chi-chan should have woken up by now as well, but she's still busy cleaning her room. She will probably come out later though to feed her animals."

"Ah, okay." Kimiko replied. "So you guys also raising your own animals here?" "Yeah, you could say that. Most of it is done by Chi-Chan, since she has the greatest knowledge around Wild Game from all of us and thus there are animals that are only her's...But other than that, we have chicken, ducks and rabbits here. If you need any just ask. Self made ingredients are kind off the norm here and part of the dorm's ideology. That's also why we have the field, which is very dear to Satoshi-San."

"Nice." Kimiko let out an impressed whistle. Hopefully she would be able to contribute as well. "So, what are you up to, when you're not going to work on the field?" She then asked, to keep the conversation going.

"I am out of Apple Wood." Was the shortcut answer, but Kimiko understood to Yasu's relief. "Ah, so you're producing your own smoke-chips?" He smiled. "Exactly." After another second of silence, he offered. "By the way, same thing here. If you ever need smoke chips you can ask me." He scratched his head a little unsurely before adding after more silence. "Oh and of course, I can also offer you Sake, Soy Sauce, Natto..." He went on to count on seemingly millions of other fermentation products.

Kimiko had heard from Mika that Yasu's mother was managing a fermentation business and that he'd promote it at some point. So she just listened and noted in her head to try his selfmade things out one day.

The usual so reserved and quiet Yasu was just finished, as they had reached the entrance hall and the main door of the dormitory. "Oh my...Sorry for the sudden ramble in the early morning...I feel like Chi-Chan." He apologized and pulled his hand through the long, auburn hair. Kimiko couldn't help but to let out a soft giggle about the little remark on their bespectacled dormmate. She surely was always very talkative, not just in the morning, but through the entire day. Let the theme be politics, homework, everyone's irresponsibility, carrots or the rights to her room.

"It's okay." Kimiko assured him. "You're pretty close to Chieko-Chan, Hm?"

"Not anymore, if you tell her what I just said." Yasu joked, to Kimiko's surprise, but he gave a clear nod afterwards. "We kind off grew up together, our parents are really close."

Kimiko had to bite herself on the tongue to not say that she figured. It would probably sound very weird.

Instead she only said. "Oh, nice! I also have one, at home of course. His mother always babysit me and..." She couldn't help but to mumble the following words. "...my brother..."

She had hoped for Yasu not to notice. He probably did, but didn't put his finger right into the wound. "Did you actually got dinner yesterday? You weren't there as we ate." Kimiko responded immediately. "I visited my aunt and uncle and ate there."

Yasu hummed in response and started to turn around afterwards. Halfway he stopped and looked over his shoulder. "I have to get my chainsaw from the chamber now. The field is behind the house, I'm sure you will find it. Maybe I will check in later to help you two, if not I'll see you at breakfast."

"Alright, Ibusaki." Kimiko gave him a soft wave. "Have fun with your wood and see ya later." "Later."

And with that Kimiko exited the dorm. She had to admit, she liked her dormmates more and more. Sure, they could come across as rather odd first, but they were truly friendly and enjoyable company.

The green grass creaked under Kimiko's feet as she stepped into the cold morning air. The light was still dim and haze wafted between the trees of the dark, silent forest around her. She breathed in the fresh air, pulled her jacket closer and began to walk.

Following Yasu's instructions, she walked right behind the large building. On her way she also passed the cage, that was filled with sleeping hens. Going a bit closer, she also spotted the ducks and rabbits, all separated from each other.

Then she finally reached her destination. Right in time, for the sun to raise a bit more into the sky and cast warm light on the giant field that Kimiko had in front of her now.

She couldn't help but gasp.

It was not just a little garden, like she had expected, and filled with more than just tomatoes and carrots. Right in this blooming variety of vegetables, a few students in casual clothes were working calmly but eagerly.

Kimiko walked towards the head that shone in bright blue between the green leafs. "Hiroshi-Kun, good morning." She lifted a hand and smiled.

Hiroshi looked up from his basket full of cauliflowers and his blue eyes locked with her golden ones. "There you are, Kimiko-San. Good Morning, I hope you slept well."

He stood up and added. "You came home quite late yesterday. Did you have dinner? And how's your brother?"

"Yah, I ate in the Nakiri Mansion since I visited it after talking to my brother." As she answered his next question, she looked aside. "And Hiraku's fine."

"A...Alright.." Hiroshi responded. Kimiko turned her glance back to him.

He wore a yellow, checkered pullover with rolled up sleeves. The trousers were grey and a little dirty. His feet were protected by dark green rubber boots.

"...So..." Kimiko looked around. "Field work, huh?"

"It's you first time on the Polar Star fields, huh?" Hiroshi tilted his head and received a nod from Kimiko.

The face of the Quarter-Italian lighted up. "Hm, well I can only speak for myself here, but I find the work a lot, a lot of fun. Satoshi-San taught me quite a lot already and it's a wonderful feel to see a seed you planted grow...Come on, I'll show you everything we have."

Kimiko smiled back. "Right behind you."

* * *

It was a wonderful morning.

Hiroshi did as he promised and showed her the immense arsenal of vegetables that the dormitory grew on their own. More than often leaving Kimiko a little speechless in impressed awe.

The next thing they did was collecting eggplants and afterwards they planted potatoes.

They talked the entire time, not just about gardening but also about Kimiko's Shokugeki, a few silly stories, Madoka Enomoto's class and other things.

At some point, Yasu joined and now they were moving on to the tomatoes.

"Here."

Kimiko had a bright, red tomato in front of her, held by Hiroshi's hand. He looked at her, the bright blue eyes, no one could resist, full of hope.

Understanding Kimiko took the tomato and although she knew what he wanted from her, he still said it out loud. "Uhm...Have a taste, maybe?"

Yasu was calmly humming near them, picking every tomato carefully, fitting perfect into the peaceful atmosphere around the three teens.

Kimiko took a bite and was immediately overwhelmed, by the sheer freshness of the tomatoe.

"Oh...Oh wow..." She stuttered, resulting in a bright smile from Hiroshi. "They taste excellent! It's great quality and should be very, very useful for cooking."

Hiroshi blushed and stammered. "Tha...That's nice to hear..." Kimiko tilted her head a little. Yasu commented. "Tadokoro took very special care of the tomatoes. He tries to make them very good, so Aldini-San, who primarily cooks Italian, can use them."

"Oh, that's very nice of you." Kimiko complimented Hiroshi, who only blushed more. "They truly are delightful."

"Eh...heh...hehe..." Hiroshi nervously laughed from all the praise. "Tadokoro is a very kind person." Yasu answered to Kimiko and gave a little smile afterwards. She nodded eagerly.

Then a small, peaceful silence came up in which the three only focuses on their job.

Kimiko was a little overwhelmed with thoughts though.

 _The tomatoes we use in the diner are nothing compared to this...My, this dormitory truly is something. Producing your own ingredients sounds like quite the neat ide.._

Her thoughts got interrupted by the sharp, loud whistle that suddenly disturbed the calm, peaceful ambiance.

Yasu turned his head first, afterwards Hiroshi and Kimiko did too.

At the end of the field they saw the petite figure and dark hair of Chieko. As she was wearing one of her usual blue skirts, Kimiko assumed that she probably wasn't here for field work.

"Oh...Marui-San?" Hiroshi questioned aloud. "I'll see what she wants." Yasu declared before making his way to the waving girl.

"Is it time for breakfast already?" Kimiko wondered. Hiroshi shook his head. "I don't think so, but I could be wrong."

They watched Yasu approaching Chieko and the talk that emerged afterwards. It didn't went on for very long and a few seconds later, Yasu was giving Hiroshi and Kimiko a hand gesture that told them to come over.

They exchanged one look, before picking up their baskets and walked towards the two.

"Good Morning, you two." Chieko exclaimed as the two were close enough to hear her. They responded in unison. "Good Morning."

"So, what's up?" Kimiko asked Chieko after the greeting. Hiroshi looked at her expectingly as well.

"We got visit." Yasu answered instead. "Daigo-San and Shoji-San are here." Chieko informed, looking more to Hiroshi than Kimiko.

"Oh really?" Hiroshi voiced in pleasant surprise. Kimiko tilted her head. "...Daigo-San and Shoji-San...?"

 _Can it be?_

"Kawashima's and Aoki's fathers. They often visit us when their wives are out of town, which is not rare since Kawashima Urara and Aoki Yua are known food journalists who are often invited to all kinds of shows and such." Chieko gave some input to the the blonde, who nodded.

 _So it is true._

She only knew about the Jewel Generation for one day and was already about to meet two members of it. _What a coincidence!_

Also, even though it had been obvious before, she now had the official confirmation for Hideyoshi and Daisuke being "Reborn Jewels".

"Next to that..." Chieko's voice brought Kimiko out of her thoughts and she eyed the black-haired girl, who now wore a rather grim expression. "...We received a letter."

* * *

The dining hall was filled with Mika, Hideyoshi, Daisuke and Satoshi. But there were also two other faces that Kimiko rightfully assumed to be Daigo and Shoji.

Kimiko had to swallow quite the lump before entering the door. Meeting people she just had seen much younger in a photoalbum yesterday evening, without their knowing, felt a little strange.

Both men were tall, build really muscular and had a tough face, which lightened up immensely as the small group stepped into the room. They stood up expectingly.

Shoji Kawashima, formerly Shoji Sato, was a dirty blonde and his eyes had the same colour as his son's: violet. He wore a grey sweater, black trousers and brown shoes. His unkempt, shoulder-long hair was styled into a semi-mohawk style and his left ear was decorated with an earring. He also wore a leather bracelet.

Daigo Aoki had black hair and black eyes. Again the eye colour was also inherited by his son. Most notable about him were the sideburns that framed his hard face. He wore a leather jacket, a simple white undershirt underneath and grey pants. Kimiko also noticed a quite expensive looking watch around his arm.

Mika, Hideyoshi and Daisuke looked up as the group entered. "Buonasera." "Yo!" "Oh, hello!"

Satoshi wore that trademark smile that seemingly no one could wipe out of his face. "Ah, there you are...Good Morning, everyone."

Chieko took a step aside to reveal Hiroshi and Yasu as Daigo and Shoji approached them. The first one, who was greeted was Yasu.

"Hey! Yasu-Kun." Daigo grinned and fiercely shook the boy's hand. Yasu put up with Daigo's strong grip and calmly responded. "Good day, Daigo-San." Right after, he was already pulled into a strong hug and patting on the shoulder. "I hope you had nice holidays. You're still as cool and chill as always, lad." Daigo loudly laughed.

Chieko had to cover her mouth to not burst into laughter as well. She clearly was highly entertained. Daisuke, on the other hand, had turned away with pink cheeks because of his father's behaviour. Satoshi's smile just grew wider.

Now Shoji ruffled trough the silky, auburn hair of Yasu's and snickered. "Daigo's right for once, boy." "For once?!" Daigo let out an irritated shout, but Shoji ignored him. "You look more and more mature every time I see you." Another "pat" on Yasu's back, that made Kimiko fear for the tall boy's bones. He only set up a friendly smile and said. "Good to see you too, Shoji-San."

As they have moved on from Yasu, who afterwards stumbled a little bit, it was Hiroshi's turn. Hiroshi received a pat on the shoulder from Daigo and hair-ruffling from Shoji. "And there's Hiroshi-Kun! How are you?" "Is everyone treating you well? You know when there's anyone bothering you..." "Everything's alright." Hiroshi quickly assured. "Good day to you two. It's always nice to have you here."

"Don't worry, I have a good eye on him." Mika promised the two men, who didn't seemed to be truly convinced by Hiroshi's words. "If I see anyone treating him bad, I will kick that someone on the moon faster than he can say 'Spaghetti'." That was an answer that satisfied the two men. "That's our Mika-Chan!" Mika proudly flipped her blonde ponytail and crossed her legs. "Of course."

"And then there's the new one..." Daigo and Shoji simultaneously turned to Kimiko who looked up at them with a stoic expression. But something happened, as the two closely looked at her.

The curiosity that they intentionally held for the new member of their favourite place in the entire world, was seemingly wiped out of their faces with Kimiko's appearance alone. Their pupils grew and they seemed to be at a lack of words. The two leaned forwards a little to inspect her closer. If Kimiko would have looked behind them, she would also have noticed that Satoshi was not smiling anymore. In fact, he looked rather nervous.

Before Kimiko could introduce herself, Hideyoshi and Daisuke were already beside her. "She transferred here this year." Daisuke elaborated to his father, not noticing the atmosphere at all. Hideyoshi wore one of his smug grins and made a presenting hand gesture towards the blonde. "Dad, Daigo-San, may I introduce to you..."

"... _Yukihira Kimiko_."

Instantly, as the words were from Hideyoshi's lips, Shoji and Daigo went pale. Their pupils shrunk immensely in shock and their jaws hung loose.

"Yu...Yu..." "Ki...kihira...?" Were the first words they could bring out after a long, painful and strange silence. Kimiko gave an unsure nod, confused with what was going on. Hideyoshi had also raised an eyebrow, while Daisuke had tilted his head.

Daigo and Shoji looked at each other, took a deep breath and stammered afterwards. "W...Well, nice to meet you...Ki...Kimiko-Chan..." "Y...Yeah...Hopefully you'll enjoy your time in Polar Star...We're Polar Star alumnis...you know? And if there's any place you can truly hone your skills and have a great time..." Daigo's voice broke and Shoji assisted him. "...it's Polar Star..."

They held out their hands, which Kimiko shook. "Aoki Daigo, Daisuke's father." "Kawashima Shoji, Hideyoshi's father." The two formally introduced themselves to Kimiko, who didn't told them that it was unnecessary, so she just nodded and responded. "Pleasure is on my side." Their tone had lacked emotion and they in no way had the energy that they greeted the others with anymore.

 _Strange_. Kimiko thought.

After the hand-shaking, Daigo and Shoji immediately swung around to Satoshi and called out, desperately and simultaneously. "Isshiki-Senpai!"

He understood, clapped his hands together and announced. "Well, children! Aoki-Kun, Sato-Kun and I will cook today...so we'll move into the kitchen now. Alright?"

"Alright." A choir of teenage voices responded, so Satoshi nodded and signalised Daigo and Shoji through a hand gesture to follow him. They didn't hesitated and within second the three had left the room.

"What was that?" Hideyoshi questioned immediately, as the door fell shut. Daisuke shrugged. "Don't know."

Kimiko eyed the door as well and let the scene replay in her head. _How could her mere existence cast such a shock into those two?_

But before she could think further, Mika spoke up. "Anyway, we received a letter." With that she threw a blue flyer on the table.

The group collected around the table and eyed it.

Mika leaned backwards, unimpressed. Chieko gulped. Yasu was emotionless. Daisuke and Hideyoshi shared an worried look. Kimiko did not understand. And a shaky whisper escaped Hiroshi.

"...oh...so it's time."

* * *

"What the hell, man?!" "Could you have informed us and spare us this shock?!" "The children were around, I couldn't!"

With a exhausted groan Shoji sunk on the chair. Daigo was already sitting, with his head in hands. Satoshi stood in front of them with crossed arms.

Obviously, no one had started cooking anything. In fact, they weren't even in the kitchen. Since that would have been full of students at that time.

Satoshi sighed in exhaustion. "Okay, alright. I know you two must be really startled right now, having the daughter of Soma-Kun and Erina-Chan out of nowhere in front of you."

"Kinda, yeah." Shoji crowed.

Satoshi took a deep breath and made a hand gesture, telling the two to calm down. "I was too as Alice-San told me that her niece would join Polar Star out of nowhere. But to be honest, aster I got that shock behind me, I was just relieved. I was just relieved. Because, what tells us Yukihira Kimiko's presence? Exactly. Soma-Kun and Erina-Chan could be alive...and together!"

Daigo and Shoji looked at each other, then they looked down and a silence came up for a good portion of minutes. Memories poured down on the two. Memories from days were the dormitory hasn't been full of people. Memories of laughter, tears, food and a lot, a lot of friendship. Memories from their youth. And of course memories of the last day of their youth.

"Maybe..." Daigo muttered. Shoji nodded slowly, before looking up to Satoshi. "The agreement..." "It still counts." Satoshi immediately stated not letting Shoji finish.

"What?" Daigo blurted. "But she's their _daughter_!"

"Still." Satoshi said. "The agreement is absolute and as long as Alice-San doesn't says anything else, we're going to follow it."

As Shoji and Daigo remained silent, Satoshi stressed. "It's only fair."

He turned away and softly stated, a little more to himself than to the two men behind him. "I'm sure everything will work out."

* * *

"...So even this extravagant school does camps?" Kimiko asked.

The blue flyer that laid on the table read "Training Camp - Training Guide" and also had two cute cartoon characters drawn on it whose speech bubbles were filled with encouraging words. It honestly looked like something they would hand you in primary school.

"Yes." Was the simple answer, that came from Yasu. The more detailed version came from Chieko of course. And her explanation was giving a little more justice to Totsuki. Or she was just being highly dramatic. "This camp, Kimiko-cchi, is said to be hell on earth."

Kimiko pulled up an eyebrow. But she witnessed how Hiroshi had started to shiver a little, Daisuke nervously fumbled with his fingers while Hideyoshi bit off his fingernails.

A dark shadow was cast on Chieko's face, as she explained further. "It's the first challenge they traditionally make the highschool first years go through. For six days we will be tested daily and have to face different challenges, one harder than the other, somewhere in the mountains till they have us absolutely crushed towards the end." She shook herself. "Furthermore, if we should not live up to the expectations of our examiners, immediate expulsion will follow."

Hiroshi shrieked. Mika laid her hand on his shoulder, to calm him down.

Yasu leaned forwards a little. "This is Totsuki. In the end only the very best shall stand and the weeding out will truly begin from now on."

"Expulsions will happen everyday..." Daisuke swayed a little and to make everyone feel better, Hideyoshi of course added. "I heard last year the student's number was reduced to half."

Hiroshi went pale. This was a sign for Mika to speak up. "Now come on guys, as if one of us is going to be expelled!"

"I don't really understand either." Kimiko voiced, making everyone turn to her. "We're just going to be in the one half that succeeds, where's the big deal?"

Silence emerged between the Polar Star Dormitory students, as everyone was just staring at Kimiko and Mika with blank eyes.

The silence was then broken by Yasu. "Pretty much what you two said." He smiled. "I am sure we will all return safe and sound."

As if a lever had been put down, Hideyoshi was suddenly cajoling. "Damn right, Aldini, Yukihira, Ibusaki! Nothing's just going to stop the Polar Star Dormitory so easily!" Daisuke nodded eagerly next to him, filled with new positivity.

Chieko balled one of her fists, while adjusting her glasses with the other hand and proclaimed. "Alright then." She looked to Yasu. "We can't fall behind." "I was never planning to." Chieko ignored his response and only looked at the others, rising her fist into the air. "Let's make the best of it and make Satoshi-San proud! This camp is ours!" "It's amazing how easy it can be to change your mood sometimes, Chi-Chan."

Hiroshi was only looking at Mika, who had already started throwing a new challenge at Kimiko.

Satoshi, Shoji and Daigo entered the room again and were immediately smiling at the sight of the lively students. "Again, just make the best of it." Satoshi whispered to his two former underclassmen, who gave him a nod and started to walk towards the one loud table.

"Well, what's going on here, hm?" Shoji asked and immediately received an answer from his son. "Training Camp is on, Dad! And we're gonna destroy it." "Alright!" The two highfived.

"You'll make it out as well, buddy." Daigo assured to Daisuke, who softly replied. "Yes, I think I can do it too."

Satoshi also walked to the table, laughing. "Training Camp, huh? It's quite the challenge I've got to admit, but I am very sure that you will all master it."

He turned to Daigo and Shoji. "We didn't finished cooking yet."

"Oh yeah." Shoji remembered. "Leave the frying to me, Isshiki-Senpai, you know I am the best to ask there."

Out of the sudden a hand fiercely grabbed his shoulder and swung Shoji around so that he was right looking into the angered face of Daigo. "Huh, what was that?!"

Shoji immediately mimicked the expression perfectly. "You heard me correct!"

Flames seemed to build up between these two, as they glared at each other and smashed their heads together, trying to push the other one away while gritting their teeth.

Satoshi laughed, Chieko shook her head and Yasu only watched. Of course, Hideyoshi and Daisuke couldn't pass this opportunity either and ended up in an epic stare battle.

"How about we'll later help you a little prepare for the camp and have a little round of cards afterwards, as a plan for today." Satoshi asked the children (who payed attention).

Before anyone could say anything, Kimiko already stood up with sparkling, golden eyes, as if Satoshi just offered her the leading role in a promising movie. "...Cards?!"

Hiroshi focused his sight on the transfer student in surprise, while Mika already pointed at her and announced. "Challenge is on, Yukihira!"

"I'm in for it." Yasu voiced and casted a challenging look to Chieko, who answered it right away with a slightly sinister giggle. "Yes, why not?"

Satoshi wore his trademark smile again and was already about to grab the two knuckleheads, still discussing about frying methods, as he told the younglings. "Alright then, breakfast will be done soon. And then we'll follow the plan."

Kimiko was so excited about the mere thought of playing cards again, she happily exclaimed. "I...I have some cards upstairs.." Before anyone could stop her, telling her they've got lots of card-sets laying around in the dormitory , she had already rushed out of the door. "I'll go get 'em."

Satoshi chuckled and Daigo and Shoji had stopped arguing for a second, just to watch in awe.

Kimiko was running upstairs not slowing down. She even nearly overran an poor underclassmen but fortunately stopped in the right second. That's why she was standing infront of her room already in quite a short amount of time.

She was right about to open the door, as she suddenly noticed something.

Two small, brightly coloured letters that were pinned on her door.

Kimiko tilted her head. _What was that?_

She looked around, in hope to spot anything that could give her a clue. But all she saw was the silent, normal hallway.

Maybe it's these two guys Morita and Ota, two middle schoolers. Kimiko had heard Chieko complain a lot about them already, since they apparently loved to mess with their bespectacled upper classmate and play some pranks. Maybe they were searching a new target and who would be better than the new kid?

Kimiko shrugged it off, took the letters from her door, opened said door and just threw the letters on her table without reading them.

Then she grabbed her card set and ran downstairs again.

* * *

The day of the start for the Training Camp approached faster than Kimiko would have thought. She looked forward though to the alternation from the normal cooking lessons that this camp would hopefully provide in some way.

Making it through this school was not hard at all for now.

At the appointed day, she was the last one to step out of the dormitory. Everyone was already waiting, dressed in their uniforms and luggage in their hands.

"Mornin'" Kimiko greeted them an they all did so too.

Satoshi, Daigo and Shoji were also standing outside, ready to goodbye the children.

Satoshi was tear-eyes again, as he saw them lined up in front of him. "Like little chicks leaving the nest. I wish you an adventurous, thoughtful and enjoyable journey that you will hopefully return from smiling and experienced. This my dear children is what youth feels like."

"Of course." The group responded in unison.

"He will never shut up about youth, huh?" Daigo sweatdropped and Shoji did so as well. "Not a chance."

 ***Chirp***

Kimiko immediately turned to the source of the noise and saw a little, yellow featherball sitting on Chieko's shoulder. "A chick...?" She asked. Chieko nodded excitedly. "Research purposes." "Aha..." "It's very cute." Hiroshi said behind Kimiko, who then asked. "How's it called?"

"Gallina IV"

Kimiko blinked. And was right about to ask "What...?"

As the whole group already explained it in unison to her. "Gallina is hen in Latin."

"Woah, woah...y'all know Latin?" Kimiko looked around amazed. She had never understood the appeal of learning a dead language no one used anymore either way and was learning French instead.

"No, Chieko-Chan knows Latin." Satoshi laughed. "She always names her animals their names in Latin."

"Oh." Kimiko said and watched Chieko petting the little chick.

"Isn't she adorable?" Daigo nearly squealed. "Yeah!" Shoji raised his fist. "And intelligent as well."

Chieko blushed a little because of the praise, like she always did. In the few days Kimiko knew Daisuke's and Hideyoshi's fathers now she had noticed that the two seemed to like Yasu but even more notably Chieko a lot.

"Intelligent...yeah." Hideyoshi groaned. "But unbelievably unoriginal." "Shu.." Remembering that his father, who was giving Hideyoshi a disapproving glance, was here Chieko stopped herself, cleared her throat and afterwards calmly stated. "Well that's your problem, not mine."

"I'll give it a new name." Now Chieko couldn't help but snarl. "And who gave you the permission to?" "Don't worry, I'll search for something that fits..." Hideyoshi pretended to go into deep thinking mode.

Daisuke spoke up. "Well, thinking about Marui-San...How about Megane-cchi?"

Chieko's expression went blank, Yasu had to cover his mouth to not start laughing and ruin his calm image. Hideyoshi, on the other hand, was already laying on the floor laughing. "That's a good one. Surprising that it comes from you." Daisuke put his hands on his hips. "Excuse me?"

Satoshi shook his head amused, even Daigo and Shoji were grinning.

"You goddamn-" Before Chieko could yell whatever she had in mind, Hiroshi laid his hand on her shoulder. "It does sound kind off cute." His honest eyes that always meant the best, were enough to calm Chieko down and so she only pouted instead of throwing a fit. "It could be worse, Chi-Chan." Yasu smiled. To which she only groaned. "Maybe."

"Yasu-Kun.." Tears were streaming on Satoshi's face once again. An usual sight. "Hm? What is it?" Satoshi wiped his eyes. "Please take care of young Chieko-Chan on this long journey...make sure that..." His voice broke. "...she survives it..." Yasu only sweatdropped, while Chieko tilted her head. "Sure..."

Hiroshi had let go of the small girl already and only put on that pure smile of his. Kimiko an Mika likewise had watched him.

"Well, Yukihira...Training Camp is about to start. That may be my opportunity to finally teach you a lesson, so watch out!" Mika turned to Kimiko, who only grinned back. "I look forward to it, Mika-Chan."

Before Mika could point at her and give one of her speeches again, Satoshi already clapped his hands together.

"I could watch this cheery youth all day. But remember, the busses don't wait forever."

"Alright!"

And so the first years of the infamous Polar Str Dormitory said goodbye to their guardians and started to walk to the assigned meeting place.

All around the students of Totsuki left their living places to attend the journey which only some of them would survive.

Kaori Hayama had left her house already as well, a bit earlier than she had to. Before she could walk away though, a voice that emerged from the open door made her stop and turn half way. "Kaori...I already know that you will give it your very best and return...but please...remember to also have fun..." "I will try my best." Kaori responded and smiled afterwards. "See you in seven days, try not to mess everything up without me, alright? Goodbye." "Goodbye."

At the Nakiri Mansion, Alice was giving Mona and Lola one last hug. "I know you're going to rock this." "Naturally." Lola snickered, while Mona only gave a tired hum as response. Ryo who stood next to the cuddling bundle showed a small, but proud smile. "Don't go to rough on your examiners, ..." He couldn't say anything else, as Alice already pulled him into the hug.

Takayuki Hojo was leaving the apartment, which he shared with his sister, as well. As suddenly a blue flyer was thrown at his head and he swung around back to the door of his apartment again. Said sister, Suzume Hojo, was standing there with crossed arms. "You blockhead forgot the schedule." Takayuki angrily groaned, picked up the blue flyer and yelled. "There are other ways to tell me, hellcat!" "Yeah, yeah, remember to keep calm and don't kill anyone." Suzume rolled her eyes. "Tch." "See ya, little brother." "See you..."

And so the 115th Generation entered into the high class busses that were chosen to transport them to the Camp-Site.

It was a ride filled with anxious thoughts, expecting thoughts and confident thoughts. No one truly knew what they were in for, but the first challenge that Totsuki would throw at the young chefs was right about to occur.

And as the ride was finished, the seven students of the school's sole dormitory found theirselves in front of one of the highest buildings they had ever witnessed in their entire life.

Kimiko's jaw was nearly hanging to the floor, as her neck nearly broke in the attempt to look up at what was their "camp site".

"Wh...What is that?"

No way this could be their 'hotel'. Could it?

She turned to her dormmates, who, for some reason, looked rather chill for being infront of such a building.

"That's Totsuki Resort, Kimiko-cchi." Chieko lectured and expansively continued. "Totsuki runs a lot of hotels and inns, I sadly don't have the exact number in my head right now but I would roughly estimate it to be defiantly over thousand. It truly is a known, expensive brand and a lot of graduates end up working for it."

Kimiko blinked, absolutely astonished. "This..school isn't full of rich kids for nothing in the end..." She then muttered to herself.

"Well then, let's get into that hotel and get this Camp behind, alright?" Mika stepped forwards.

"Man, to have to work in this environment is truly a waste." Hideyoshi complained, as the group got moving. "You would say that in every environment." Daisuke said behind clutched teeth.

Hiroshi was following last, eyes glued to the floor. He reached Kimiko, who was still unable to move.

"Uhm...Kimiko-Chan...?" "Y...yeah?" "We got to go..." "Oh...yeah! Of course!"

And so the two followed their fellow dormmates. What Kimiko didn't knew was that Hiroshi would have liked it better to just stand around in front of the hotel all day.

They first had to give away their luggage, which Yasu explained. "Alright, seems like we only get our rooms when we actually survive the first day."

Next they stepped into the alarmingly dead silent room. It wasn't empty, as one would assume. In contrary, it was filled with hundreds of gloomy students.

Small whispers emerged though as the group of seven entered the room.

"The Polar Star residents..."

"They probably don't have anything to worry about..."

"Hiraku-Sama's sister is with them too..."

Kimiko flinched at the sound of Hiraku's name. Great, now she already made a name for herself. A very nice one indeed, **"Hiraku-Sama"'s sister**.

Kimiko gritted her teeth. She didn't wanted to be known just because of Hiraku who was just being a pain right now. Just this morning he had send her an text listing 'useful tips for the camp'. Kimiko of course hasn't read any of it.

"What an atmosphere..." Mika flatly commented and let her gaze trail over her classmates. They all looked down to the floor, or wore expressions as if they were right about to go to the graveyard. Mika crossed her arms. For her, the most students on this school, truly were no good at all.

Hiroshi only suppressed a sigh and hung his head down as well. The tense atmosphere in the hall was not helping him feel better at all.

He lifted his head again as second later though, as a deep voice rang through the large hall. "Good morning, students."

The teenage chefs all turned to the stage, which was were the voice had come from. On it stood an old man, with blue eyes, a big nose and grey hair. He wore a purely white chef inform, which was decorated with a red neckerchief.

Next to him stood Madoka Enomoto, cleaning her glasses.

"Monsieur Chapelle!" The hall shrieked at the same time. Kimiko only tilted her head, as usual. "He's a teacher. The most strict one of them all to be correct. Also, he's chief of the French Cuisine Division. As a member of French RS, you might will have to deal with him sooner or later." Yasu told her, noticing the clueless expression of the blonde.

He couldn't add anything else, as Roland Chapelle was already continuing his speech.

"You're now going to receive a summary for the camp you're about to attend. Enomoto-San, if you please..."

Madoka gave a timid nod, put on her glasses and took out a white piece of paper. She started reading. "Totsuki Friendship and Rapport Training Camp is taking 6 days and 5 nights. Each day the students, who have now been split into groups, are going to face individual challenges overviewed by a professional examiner. Should a student not be able to bring the expected results, he's facing immediate expulsion."

Although a known fact, you could still hear gasps within the crowd and saw faces turning white.

"For the evaluation of the tasks." Madoka mercilessly continued to read the instructions given on the paper. "Totsuki Academy invited guest lecturers in form of Totsuki alumnis."

It was as if Madoka had pushed a button to ease the thick silence that was pushing it's heavy weight on the students.

Immediately gasps and shocked yells were heard.

"A...alumni?!"

"We're gonna be tested by the geniuses who survived the infamous Totsuki Academy?!"

"Agony and honor at he same time!"

"They declined as well, hm?" Kimiko heard Yasu asking Chieko, who answered. "Yes, too busy."

Kimiko also nodded how Hiroshi and Mika were likewise staring to the curtain.

And the noise got even more intense, as the first foot finally stepped on the stage.

"No way, no way!"

"Oh my god!"

"They actually got them."

One of these voices was Chieko, who stood behind Kimiko. "Oh my, Oh my, Oh my."

A huge group of people was stepping on the stage. And it was not possible for Kimiko to scan all of their faces.

The one who had stepped on the stage first, was an old man in the age of Kimiko's grandfather. He was muscular, had shaved his grey hair and wore an expensive-looking, brown suit.

Kimiko flinched a little, because of the squeal Chieko let out. "Ah, Kimiko-cchi! It's Dojima Gin."

Kimiko halfway turned to her. "...Dojima?" "He's the head chef and company director of Totsuki Resort! It said that he turned down over 800 offers from the most delicate restaurants all over the world, just to work in this position. To be in the same room as him is a honor alone, he is a legend!"

Chieko surely was excited. She was one of the only ones who felt that way. The most of the other students were trembling in fear.

Since Kimiko had made the mistake to pay attention to Chieko's rambling, the petite girl was now unstoppable. She had grabbed the taller Kimiko by the shoulder and turned her body fastly into different directions, while pointing at various faces within the crowd of geniuses.

There was a woman around 50, with very short, turquoise hair and red, stoic eyes. "Mizuhara Fuyumi from the famous Italian restaurant 'Ristorante F'." Chieko introduced and right after Kimiko was already being turned to a new face. An even older one. A man with clenched shut eyes and black hair that already turned into grey slowly. "And that's Sekimori Hitoshi, from the Sushi Restaurant Ginza Hinowa and next to him.." A tall, blue-eyed man with elegant, blonde hair and a pronounced chin was standing next to the Sushi Chef. "Donato Gotoda! From Tresoro." Next up was the face of a younger woman, with black hair, brown eyes and a kind, angelic smile. "They also got Miyano Akari who just graduated a few years ago and already owns the highly successful restaurant 'Magic'!"

Chieko stopped for a second in her wild blabbering, to give Kimiko a second to breathe. "Isn't this incredible?" Kimiko set up an unsure smile. She had no idea who these people were. "I guess?"

"It really is an impressing line up." Hiroshi acknowledged in amazement, eyes glued to the stage. Mika slowly nodded, while Daisuke and Hideyoshi had already started arguing about something that can't be very important.

"Oh, there's also Shigemichi Kumai and Rui." Chieko now noted, but a little calmer as Kimiko realised. She was talking about a couple, silently standing on the stage. The man was wearing a green restaurant uniform, wore his wild black hair into a bun and was build extremely muscular. The small woman beside him looked like a meek doll in comparison. She had braided her long, blonde locks and wore deep black lipstick fitting to her black uniform. Like it was the case with Yasu, her bangs hid her eyes.

And then Chieko's voice all out of the sudden swung back into it's high-pitched tone. "And there's..!" "Shinomiya Kojiro, head chef of the infamous Shino's." To her surprise, Kimiko answered herself, as she saw the man step on the stage. "Oh...that's right Kimiko-cchi..." Chieko responded, a little taken aback.

The man they were referring to, was somewhere in his 50s like Fuyumi. His hair had the colour of corals and his eyes the colour of ambers. He wore a purely white chef uniform, a red neckerchief, earrings and squared glasses.

He was accompanied by a brown-haired woman with calm, purple eyes and a happy smile. She was dressed in a Kosode and holding Kojiro's hand. "And there's his wife 'The Mist Empress', a known chef as well, Shinomiya Hinako. Head chef of Kirinoya." Chieko said and confirmed the prediction Kimiko had made in her head.

Kojiro was the one famous chef, that Kimiko truly knew. He was simply the most known name in the French Culinary World, a world that Kimiko was fascinated of.

But all of the sudden, different exclamations were heard from the crowd around her, making Kimiko jump. They were mixed with utter admiration as well as utter horror. Flabbergasted with the sudden uproar Kimiko quickly turned her head.

For once, Chieko was not giving any explanation.

But Kimiko didn't needed it.

Around her, she heard it.

"No..."

"They got..."

"Two...Jewels..."

"To breathe the same air as two 92nd Generation alumnis..."

"Someone hold me..."

"And out of all of them..."

"They got the former fourth seat and the infamous 'Meat General'!"

"T...Takumi and Ikumi Aldini!"

A little flashback rang through Kimiko's head. Images of the photoalbum, the pale finger of her aunt pointing on one of the many pictures with the two blondes in it, stating. "Those two are Takumi Aldini and Mito Ikumi."

Takumi Aldini was a good-looking man, around Kimiko's father's age. He had fair, proper hair, which was tied to a small ponytail. His eyes had the same bright, beautiful blue as Mika's and Hiroshi's. He wore a white cooking uniform but it's sleeves, buttons and collar were orange, giving it an individual touch.

His wife next to him wore the exact same uniform. Ikumi Aldini's shoulder-length hair was blonde as well and combed into pretty locks. Her skin was tanned and she had a figure that many woman would kill for. The eyes, that were decorated by long eyelashes, held a fresh, shining leaf green. Most notable about her were the round, beautiful lips.

"The Aldini Family are the owners of one of the most famous Italian restaurant branches...'The Trattoria Aldini'!"

 _...Trattoria Aldini?_

"Takumi Aldini is known as one of the absolute bests to turn to when talking Italian cuisine! He's on par with Fuyumi Mizuhara!"

"Ikumi Aldini was intentionally heir to the Mito-Group before deciding to do her own thing! She's behind the amazing use of meat you can get in the Trattoria."

"Not to mention, they're graduates from the infamous 92nd Generation."

"The only Generation to ever have more graduates than can be count off by hand!"

"Their daughter is currently visiting Totsuki and said to be very promising as well...Mika Aldini."

Mika was staring at the stage with wide eyes, Hiroshi did so as well. "Oba-San and Oji-San are here..." Hiroshi whispered, before asking his cousin. "Did you know about this, Itoko-Chan?"

Mika only shook her head.

Kimiko searched for confirmation for a fact, that was pretty much clear either way. She leaned towards Chieko. "They're...Mika-Chan's...?" "Parents, yes." "And Tadokoro's aunt and uncle." Yasu added.

Kimiko hummed in response, looking to Mika and Hiroshi who still had their round eyes focused to the stage.

Takumi and Ikumi had finally came to a still over there. They confidently stood in the front and looked down on the, mostly shivering, students like the other alumni.

"So we really are the only ones, huh?" Ikumi spoke to her husband in a husky voice. " _Si_ , seems like it, _cuore mio_." He responded in the same volume.

Ikumi let her gaze swift over the thousands of students, searching for a particular face. Takumi did the same and after mere seconds, he already exclaimed. "There! There's Mika! And also Hiroshi! Accompanied by their friends."

Ikumi followed his gaze and also spotted the flabbergasted face of their daughter. And as Takumi had said, next to Mika stood the blue-haired niece.

Takumi's smiled and gave a soft wave to his precious girl, which made a lot of students look at her. Mika turned bright red and focused her sight to the ceiling immediately.

Before any of the two Jewels could add anything else, Gin already took the microphone into his hands. His deep voice, shut the noisy students right away.

"Good Day, dear students of Totsuki and welcome to my resort. It's always a pleasure to host this event for this grand school. Now young chefs, the basic introduction was already given by Chapelle and Enomoto, there's nothing I want to add except for a fact, that you're all hopefully going to keep in mind on these six days."

He made a hand gesture towards the lined up professionals. "These chefs left their restaurants behind for a week, just to be here." Many students held their breath. "You better not let them down. With that, I wish you a wonderful time. And give it your all, so you can remain between the very best!"

Takayuki cracked his knuckles.

Lola and Mona exchanged a look.

Kaori only swiftly turned around, showing no emotion whatsoever.

"...'wonderful time', yeah right! We didn't even got to check out our rooms!" Hideyoshi growled. Daisuke grabbed him. "Who cares about that brick-head? We gotta get to our assignment!" "Did you just...?" "Good Luck, guys!"

"Come on, Yasu! Or we'll be late!" Chieko commanded her best friend. Megane-cchi was sleeping peacefully in her pocket. Yasu waved to Mika, Hiroshi and Kimiko. "See you all later." Hiroshi nodded and waved back. "Sure." Said Mika. Kimiko innocently asked. "Chieko-Chan's room?" Certain Chieko swung around and blurted. "What? Why? The rooms here all have the sa-" Yasu was already pushing her forwards and only nodded. "Where else?"

"Guess that only leaves us?" Kimiko addressed the two remaining Polar Star students. "I hope I can talk to Mama and Papa at some point." Mika shared her thoughts and looked to the stage that was emptying as well. "I am sure you get to, Itoko-Chan, but first we gotta get to our assignment as well."

And so the three set off.

It was time for the Training Camp to begin!

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 _"Megane" is Japanese for glasses_

 _"Oba" is Japanese for aunt and "Oji" is Japanese for uncle._

 _"Cuore mio" is Italian for "My Heart"_

 _If there's anything wrong with that, feel free to correct me._

 _Thanks a lot for reading, I hope you enjoyed it and that I can greet you again next chapter_

 _Till then_


	11. Side Story 1

**Author's Note:**

 _I am sorry, if it's disappointing but this is sadly not a new chapter of Shokugeki no Soma. It's a simple side story written for the bonus day of Shokugekiweek, over at tumblr._

 _This smol one shot takes place at the start of the 115th Generation and when most of it's members started to attend Totsuki._

 _It's nothing big but I hope you like it either way._

 _I'll try my very best to get the next chapter done soon, but it's very hard for me currently...so please bear with me here_

 _Anyway...Let's do the Review Replies and move on then_

 **Geno07P:** Oh Gosh, you're right. Thank you so much for pointing it out. I swear this issue will be resolved in next chapter, but I do have to think a little about it...But again, thanks for your reply on that.

 **Anon:** Thank you very much

 **Dknight27:** Thanks for thinking that way, I guess. It's honestly so nice for me to see that you enjoy the story so much. And yeah, the Aldini's will be lots of fun for me to write and I hope you will find fun in it as well

 **1995hzq:** Glad that I can keep you anticipated, I guess. Oh and Central's allies and Azami are fine I guess...No, bo...of course I have plans for them, but this will have to wait a little.

 **Guest:** Oh gosh, I am really sorry if I was that confused. The premise is basically that Erina and Soma are unknown nowadays, since they have disappeared for quite some time, I'll go into much more detail about this later in the story and don't want to take too much of it away. Hiraku and Kimiko are great chefs, but no, they both don't know about the legacy they're carrying.

 **Nyx028:** I really try with updates...but it is hard, I gotta say qwq Glad, you like the story though!

 **Gaby:** Oh uhm...I am flattered that you'd like to use my characters...If you credit me as the owner, you could I guess? I am just a little sad because I would not be able to understand it, since I don't speak Spanish. But well. Credit me please, that's all I ask for.

 **Yuzuhara-san:** Gosh, you can't imagine how much live your message gave me. I am really happy you like the story so much. Hopefully, I can keep this up. Thanks a lot for your comment.

 **ArchGian:** Thanks a lot and I'll try my best.

 **Author's Note End**

* * *

 **The First Side Dish - Beginnings**

* * *

"Done."

Hiroshi's mother backed off to admire her work and Hiroshi was not sure about it but it seemed that her warm, yellow eyes were near tears as she let them trail over him.

Hiroshi's father only smiled, but even more brightly than usual.

Here he stood, Hiroshi Aldini-Tadokoro. Dressed complete and properly into the naval blue uniform that the school sent home to him a few days earlier.

Which school, you may ask?

Totsuki, of course.

Unlike his friends in Tohoku, Hiroshi would not visit the local middle school here but attend a school in Tokyo instead. Totsuki Culinary Academy, the most famous and prestigious culinary school in Japan as he had heard way too many times now. His parents, as well as his uncle and aunt had graduated from there. Something not as usual as someone might think. Apparently the graduates can usually be counted off by hand, because of the school's extreme out weeding throughout the six years.

Except for one Generation, but no one even thought about this sort of brilliance in just one Generation to come back any day. So it wasn't of any bother.

"...You won't be sad with me, if I don't make it, right...?" Hiroshi had asked many times. His parents assured him that they were certain he could do it, but if he didn't felt like going to the school they wouldn't force him.

He decided he could give it a shot and enjoy it as long as it lasts.

So here he was now, ready to go. The entire village standing outside and ready to bring him to the train.

But before she would expose her son to the excited crowd, Hiroshi's mother wanted to make use of the silence in the house one last time. "Hiroshi." She softly smiled. "Yes, Mom?" Hiroshi responded and locked his blue eyes with her's.

He felt his mother's hand going through his unkempt blue locks as she said. "Don't ever forget, that you have people you can talk to. Your father and Me. Your grandmother. Your friends here in Tohoku...You can even phone all the way to Italy and speak to uncle Takumi, aunt Ikumi or little Mika. And also-"

Her eyes trailed away from him. Not just away from him, it seemed, but also away from the current time. She was in memory of something. "...I am sure you'll find friends in Totsuki as well. And don't ever hesitate to ask them for help, if you feel in need for it and that they're the right persons."

Hiroshi gave an unsure nod.

"And remember to have fun." His father winked at him and gave him a quite proud look afterwards. "I am more than sure that you have the talents to reach the top spot of the academy."

* * *

The Farewell had been long, emotional but a beautiful memory that Hiroshi would always treasure in his heart during the long time he'd spent on Totsuki.

After the many tears, the thousands of hugs and the millions of encouraging words, Hiroshi was finally sitting in the train that would bring him to Japan's capital city.

And in what felt like no-time to him he was already standing in front of the huge gate of the even more huger school with widened eyes and unable to grasp each and every detail of the campus at once.

This school was truly something, he could tell by the look alone.

Around him masses of students entered. More than one of them was exiting a limousine and nearly everyone held a prideful expression. Hiroshi pressed his lips together and tightened his grip around his suitcase, as if it could protect him from anything. He wasn't even sure of what he needed to be protected off.

Slowly but surely he started to move and just follow the students in his age.

While walking he couldn't help himself but to ask this one question.

 _...What did I actually sign up for?_

* * *

He did sign up for a school that didn't even bothered to spare it's students the lesson on day uno.

After a long, stretched entrance ceremony, held by one of the upperclassmen, Akio Hayama, Hiroshi, as well as his classmates, were already thrown into the many kitchens Totsuki had and had to attend their first cooking lesson.

Luckily, Hiroshi had managed to find a partner in all this chaos and a good one at that. The guy had looked as unsure and timid as himself, hectically turning his head after the teacher had stated that he wants the students to work in pairs.

He had brown hair and dull, black eyes. Daisuke Aoki was his name.

And right now, Hiroshi was walking outside with him as they finished their first day of school.

"And you're not nervous at all?!" Daisuke was exclaiming in bewilderedness. The two boys had just realised that they would both live in the same dormitory. The only one available on the campus, Polar Star.

"Should I?" Hiroshi turned to Daisuke, slightly worried about his companion's comment. "Well uhm..." Daisuke unsurely elaborated. "...Polar Star is one of the most popular places to live during Totsuki times. It has a long history and is very famous, since the Jewel Generation." "Jewel Generation was the 92nd, right?" Hiroshi wanted to make sure. Daisuke gave a quick nod.

That was the Generation that had ever managed to get more students through than can be count off by hand. A sensation, apparently.

Both of Hiroshi's parents had been part of it, as well as his uncle and aunt, and the teachers had gladly reminded him on that fact through the entire day.

"The entrance exam shall be really hard as well..." Daisuke's words brought Hiroshi back into reality. The boy truly was worried.

"Aoki." Hiroshi addressed him and he turned his head. He gave him an encouraging smile. "I am sure, you'll be fine. You were great help today as well."

Daisuke blushed a little and stammered. "Th...Thanks, I guess."

Before Hiroshi could change the topic to not have Daisuke worry so much anymore a loud yell made it's way to their ears, resulting in a turn around.

"Hey!"

There stood a boy, their age, with hair as black as the night and eyes as violet as lavander. He wore the school uniform without tie and opened jacket. His eyes were completely ignoring Hiroshi's presence and only narrowed at the sight of Daisuke. And as Hiroshi casted one look to his new friend, he noticed that he was returning the challenging gaze.

The boy walked up to them.

"Where have you been?" Were the first words he gave to them and Hiroshi was sure they were directed to Daisuke.

Daisuke who only intensified his challenging gaze. "Since when is that any of your business?"

The answer followed immediately. "Well, someone has to take care of you!" Afterwards a melancholic sigh, worthy of Shakespearean theatre. "And we both now that I am the more mature one of us here." Daisuke snickered, but the boy was not paying attention to it. "And my day had been rough enough, that I don't have the time to chase around _some baby_!"

Okay this was clearly heading into a direction that Hiroshi wasn't really fond of and so he timidly interjected. Or tried too. "Uhm...Excuse me?"

Both boys turned.

The black haired one pulled up an eyebrow, while Daisuke's face lightened up. "Who are you?" The unnamed one asked.

"Aldini-Tadokoro Hiroshi..." Hiroshi responded or rather murmured so that the boy had to lean forward a little to properly understand. "Gosh, you're as soft-spoken as him." He pointed to Daisuke.

Then his expression shifted into a rather haughty one and he proudly announced. "I am Kawashima Hideyoshi, by the way. Yes, son of _the_ Kawashima Urara, as well as Kawashima Shoji."

"Nice to meet you." Hiroshi held out a hand, but Hideyoshi simply went past it and continued to head into the direction Daisuke and Hiroshi were intending too. Walking didn't stopped him from talking though. "In a few months, I am going to own the school, alright? This is nothing but a playground to me. First I gotta become the world's greatest host and then-"

"Sorry." Daisuke appeared next to Hiroshi, whispering. Hiroshi couldn't help but to flinch a little. "Huh ?" "He's always been like that." Daisuke explained and his expression turned a little grim afterwards. "I have the pleasure to be around him since I was born...but..." Now his face got at least a little softer. "He can be nice here and then..."

"Aha..."

Daisuke shrugged in apologise, but Hiroshi gave him an "It's okay"-head shake. He would just believe Daisuke's comment about Hideyoshi's friendly side and decided to work for bringing that side out. His mother had said he would make friends here and he would try that for sure.

And so the three continued their journey to the school's sole dorm.

* * *

The school's sole dorm was full. Very full.

As soon as Daisuke, Hideyoshi and Hiroshi entered they were already greeted by a lousy crowd of students their age, who all intended to join the dorm. Most of their chats were about the dorm's legacy but some also complained about the rough day and how they couldn't wait to get into their beds.

Hiroshi gulped at that sight of many contenders. Behind him he heard a bicker emerge and noted that it was in fact between Hideyoshi and Daisuke. He also noted that is was about...jam.

 _Odd._

Just as he finished to build up all his courage to stop the childish discussion on which fruit tastes best on bread, the crowd suddenly went silent and soon afterwards, Hiroshi heard a jolly laughter which made him turn around.

A man with light brown hair, sparkling blue eyes and a pink apron was standing infront of the middle schoolers now. "No need to fall silent all of the sudden, I won't do any harm to you. May I rather introduce myself?" He didn't even waited for an answer. "Well, I am your dormmother Isshiki Satoshi or Satoshi-San to you and Welcome." His arms went wide and the exclaim that followed afterwards could probably be heard by the entirety of Tokyo. "To the Polar Star Dorm!"

Hiroshi flinched a little, while Daisuke and Hideyoshi had stopped their bicker and just gave the dormmother a flabbergasted look.

"I can just assure you that you picked the absolute right place to live in. Here is where you can fully embrace the beauty of youth, sharing your rice with others and celebrate till the morning with your newfound friends."

Hideyoshi blinked. "Youth?" "Dad had told me the dormmother could be quite weird time to time, but he's a very decent and cool guy." Daisuke noted.

"Well then." Satoshi clapped. "As much as I want to let you run off to your rooms immediately, I sadly can't do that. It's Polar Star's tradition to have the students intending to live here attend an entrance test. It's already noted on the sheets that were handed out to you by the staff earlier. So I hope that's not too much of a surprise to all of you. Well then, you cook me a dish with the ingredients that you brought and I'll judge if it's worthy for these walls." He tipped his chin. "And to have space in the kitchen, I'll only take a little group at the time...let me see..."

His eyes started to scan the crowd of anticipated children in front of him. And then he suddenly pointed somewhere into the crowd and exclaimed. "You two please."

Whoever he had chosen were too far away for Hiroshi to see. But he guessed that they started moving. Satoshi was only proceeding his inspection as he suddenly looked into Hiroshi's direction.

His finger lifted and Hiroshi felt it pointing at him. "You two as well."

 _Two? ...Oh of course._

Hiroshi turned around to see Hideyoshi and Daisuke simultaneously pointing at themselves, silently asking for a confirmation. Satoshi gave it to them through a nod and so the two started moving.

Hiroshi had just waved to Daisuke as Satoshi spoke up again. "And you too."

Hiroshi let his gaze go back to the dormmother and saw that he was pointing at him. "Yes, you with the blue hair." Satoshi made it even clearer.

Slowly Hiroshi nodded and picked up his bag with ingredients. The crowd parted or him and he quickly walked forward, to escape the many eyes burning for him. He then arrived in the front, next to Daisuke.

Satoshi clapped his hands together a second time. "That's it for now. Please wait here in the main hall, I'll come back as soon as these five are finished."

He swiftly turned around and walked away. Hiroshi exchanged one quick look with Daisuke and Hideyoshi and then they started to follow him.

* * *

Polar Star's kitchen was huge and heavily equipped, so that Hiroshi couldn't help but gasp. Next to him Hideyoshi wore an excited expression, while Daisuke fumbled with his fingers...and next to them...

Hiroshi now finally got a chance to look at the other pair that was chosen alongside him and Daisuke and Hideyoshi.

A boy stood there, with crossed arms. Next to him was a petite girl, who was holding a book. The boy's auburn hair was silky and quite long. He bonded them together in a ponytail. Most notable was the fact that his bangs casted a shadow on his face and perfectly hid his eyes. The girl next to him had black hair which she wore in a bun. But some of the hair had loosened from it, as Hiroshi noted. The most dominant feature though were the circular glasses, sitting on the girls nose and hiding her shining, teal eyes behind them.

Before Hiroshi could give the pair a friendly greet, he already heard Satoshi speaking up again. "Well then, here are your aprons. You don't want to get your uniforms dirty, don't you?"

In his hands were a bunch of little aprons that had the same colour as his. He handed each of them one and looked at them happily afterwards.

Hiroshi didn't even hesitated to look at the print on the apron and had already bonded it around his waist.

"Before you start cooking..." Satoshi said. "...I'd like to know your names. And I don't know how you feel about it, but I'd say ladies first."

With that said, everyone immediately turned to the only girl in the room who looked up surprised. Satoshi gave her an encouraging nod.

"Oh well, uhm..." She started and took off her glasses to start cleaning them and have an excuse to look down. "My name is Marui Chieko."

It may was an illusion to Hiroshi but it felt as if Satoshi's ever-lasting smile grew a little after Chieko had said her surname. The dormmother turned to the boy beside Chieko. "And you?" "I am Ibusaki Yasu." He stated stoically.

Next up was Hideyoshi. His introduction was a little longer than the ones before him and accompanied by poses and wide arm gestures.

Daisuke kept it a little shorter again.

"And lastly..." Hiroshi now felt Satsohi's gaze wandering to him and knew what he had to do. He took a step forward and turned to his soon-to-be dormmates. "Good day, everyone. I...I am Aldini-Tadokoro Hiroshi." He quickly bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

As he looked up again, he was greeted by silence from the audience. Except for one thing. Sniffing.

One quick turn revealed it to come from Satoshi who rubbed a tear out of his eyes. "E...Everything okay, Satoshi-San?" Hiroshi stuttered hastily.

Satoshi nodded. "Yes... Yes it is... I am just so happy right now and..." New tears streamed out of his face. "I wish you the best of luck for this exam!"

* * *

The vision of a calming fountain faded slowly and Satoshi took a deep breath.

"Hiroshi-Kun, you passed."

Relief and amazement filled with Hiroshi's body and he blinked bewildered.

He...passed?

"An excellent interpretation of Maki Sushi." Satoshi praised before looking to the other candidates with a sad look. "I am sorry for you four that it didn't worked out today. But..I am more than certain that tomorrow will hold more fortune for you."

"So we can try again?" Daisuke immediately beamed. He was standing next to a crushed Hideyoshi. Yasu had turned his back to the others and has not talked to anyone since, not even to his companion Chieko who was sadly eyeing the floor.

"Of course you can! I beg you to, to be exact. You can sleep in the barn nearby for this night and come back tomorrow."

For the first time since Yasu heard the news that he didn't passed, he was turning his head half-way. Chieko looked up as well and Hideyoshi's spirits seemed to have returned within a second as he jumped up, balled a fist and cajoled. "Alright then! Be ready tomorrow, Satoshi-San!"

The other three bid goodbye as well and so the quartet left the kitchen.

Satoshi turned to Hiroshi and placed an old-looking, metal key into his hand. "Congratulations, Hiroshi-Kun. Room 304. Good work today." His smile grew a little. "Your parents can be proud."

Hiroshi inspected the key a little before looking up. "Uhm...uh...Satoshi-San?" "Hm?" "Won't the others be cold tonight?"

Satoshi scratched his head. "No. The barn may not be a room, but it's comfortable none or less and don't worry, I am more than certain it's not for very long."

* * *

And Satoshi was right.

Chieko and Yasu passed the entrance test on the very next day. A stuffed duck and a smoked salmon handled the deal. Chieko was in awe that she has gotten one of the bigger rooms, in form of room 205. Satoshi said that it was for all the books that the girl had brought with her. Yasu took the key for room 212 without saying any word. He did looked relieved though, Hiroshi thinks.

Daisuke and Hideyoshi took a little longer but at some point they heard the "You passed" from Satoshi as well. Hideyoshi got room 216 and Daisuke room 109.

Others tried and tried as well, but each day it became lesser and lesser. Till at some point, no one wanted to face Satoshi's judging anymore.

And at that day the 115th Generation part of Polar Star had been formed out of four guys and one girl. And Satoshi gave a little mini-banquet just for the five of them in he dining room.

"Congratulations." He lifted a glass. "I am very proud of you five. You never gave up, didn't lost your hope and now you're here. I can't wait to go through these six years with you. Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

Hiroshi smiled to his dormmates, who began eating.

He was glad that they all made it, since it had be really sad for him to see them all so miserable on the first day. And maybe, just maybe, this little group would become the friends that Hiroshi's mother was talking about.

But it didn't took Daisuke and Hideyoshi long before they started bickering again. This time about which pizza topping is the best. The discussion got awfully heated as Hideyoshi mentioned pineapples.

Yasu and Chieko remained as silent and closeted as always and only exchanged whispers between each other here and then.

Hiroshi's smile faded a little bit. Two knuckleheads and two introverts. Not to mention, both pairs were made up of childhood friends with a pre-established bond. If he wanted to befriend them, it would not be a very easy journey.

He let out a little sigh. As he remembered Satoshi praising them for never giving up.

He would just have to try. He didn't even truly did until now.

"Marui-San?" He therefore addressed the sole girl, who stopped a whisper-conversation with Yasu and expectingly turned her head to him.

"What was that technique called again you used for your dish at the entrance test?"

Chieko blinked a little taken aback by that sudden question. She then pushed up her glasses and started to elaborate. First she did it a little unsurely and flat, but the more Hiroshi nodded, asked questions or just watched her with interested blue eyes, the more safely she spoke and the more eager her speech went.

Satoshi was watching this with a knowing smile, shook his head and went to the kitchen to cook up more food.

* * *

And that's how it started.

Hiroshi's first year on Totsuki.

It was the starting gun for a long journey that would hold many challenges, surprises and other things to each member in the Polar Star Dorm.

The first change already started in their second year of middle school, where Hiroshi's cousin Mika Aldini transferred into the school and joined the dorm as well. Her fiery attitude brought some freshness into the dorm indeed and she was quickly the centre of attention within the 115th Generation. Next to the headmistress' two daughters and Kaori Hayama, of course.

But everything truly became one whirlwind with the start to highschool, which would cast the true challenges on the young chefs.

Alongside this change came a honey-blonde diner girl, with golden eyes and a bright smile, going by the name of Kimiko Yukihira. A girl that would turn Hiroshi's world upside-down quickly.

But all of this would take it's time and for now he was just happily chatting in the dormitory's dining hall, not knowing at all what ride he actually signed up to.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Thanks for reading !


	12. Chapter 10

**Author's Note**

 _I apologize from all my heart that this chapter took so long. School gave me a ton of work and I also have to admit that for quite some time, I didn't had much inspiration._

 _But summer and the holidays are slowly approaching so hopefully I'll be able to update a little more often soon._

 _Thanks to everyone for their kind and encouraging reviews! You guys were the main motivation for me to actually finish this chapter at last and I hope you'll enjoy it!_

 _And don't worry...as long as I am into SnS, I'll continue this story. I have many, many, many plans and I hope I'll be able to keep you around in the future_

 _Thanks a lot for reading!_

* * *

"One Katsu-Don coming right up!"

The customer's eyes glowed in anticipation as he looked at the steaming bowl in front of him. "Thank you very much." He quickly said, eager to start eating.

Erina only smiled and nodded. "It wasn't much." Before swiftly turning around and leaving the man with his delicacy.

While humming a little to herself the honey-blonde woman returned to the kitchen where she met her husband humming as well, but a different song.

"Gyudon for table three and Omurice for table seven." Erina announced as she stepped in and Soma gave a quick nod to signalise he had listened.

The following few moments the two spent in silence, just cooking next to each other.

Then Erina broke it. "Trainings Camp starts today." "Oh?" Soma turned to her.

"Alice told me yesterday." Erina informed.

The redhead next to her smiled and turned away again. "Ah yes...The Camp. Those are some memories. It certainly was very eventful to me."

"A Shokugeki against an alumni is certainly something not everyone can say about themselves." Erina noted.

"But there was also the Breakfast Challenge! Remember, where I nearly lost!" He reminded and laughed as if the thought of expulsion was the most hilarious joke ever. "You didn't thought about the theme properly." Erina commented.  
Back then she had been more than pleased with the thought of Soma loosing.  
Thank God, that this guy was incapable of giving up.

"It's also where I first met..." Soma suddenly said deep in thought, not bringing himself to say a name he hand's said in years.

But Erina understood none or less who he meant.

* * *

T **he Tenth Plate - A Colourful Face-Off**

* * *

 **Group D - Training Site**

No matter how tense the atmosphere was, Hideyoshi Kawashima was not one you get to shut up so easyily.

While his classmates shivered and exchanged nervous looks when awaiting the legendary Totsuki alumnus that would examine their group, he stood right in the front, where an "important personality" like him belonged, and bragged about his brand new cooking uniform.

This caused his best buddy/best rival Daisuke to be distracted from anxious mumbling and to rather glare at the black-haired boy. "How does such a giant ego even fit into such a small body?!"

Hideyoshi immediately stopped his ramble and rather turned to his companion with a challenging look on his face. "Hah?! What was that?!

Daisuke responded immediately and took a step closer to Hideyoshi. "You heard me correctly."

A second after their heads crashed together.

"Pfah, jealous as always, huh?" Hideyoshi grinned. "You wish!" Daisuke shot back.

"Silence." A female voice suddenly interrupted the bickering. While Daisuke and Hideyoshi backed away from each other and curiously turned around, the rest of the crowd stiffened and a lot of gasps could be heard.

"Oh god..."

"No way..."

"Right on the first day..."

"I think I am going to throw up..."

Totsuki Alumni Ikumi Aldini had her hands on her hips and an amused grin on her lips. "You surely inherited a lot from your mothers but not the harmony in their relationship. You two have the dynamics of your fathers through and through."

"Ikumi-San!" Hideyoshi and Daisuke exclaimed simultaneously. Ikumi nodded and lifted her hand. "Hey there! Been some time, huh?"

She now slowly turned to the class and that alone was enough to let them all become pale within a second.

"I..Ikumi Aldini...right in front of me...I cannot believe it...!"

"Not only did she manage to graduate from Totsuki but she was also part of the legendary 92nd Generation! She's gotta be top-notch!"

"She's one of the heads of this empire of a restaurant branch known an 'Trattoria Aldini', which has established, world-famous restaurants everywhere in the world."

"They say that she perfectly excels at meat dishes...What I would give to taste her barbecue."

Ikumi only licked over her lips.

This sight of trembling and nervous students certainly awoke a lot of memories of her own student life in her.

She clapped her hands together and announced. "Alright then. As many of you already stated: My name is Ikumi Aldini and I'll be your examiner for today. Now as you would please get your shit back together I would like to explain the task."

"Ikumi-San can be so bold and cool! But she also has quite the sweet and soft side hidden inside her." Daisuke smiled. Hideyoshi opened his mouth to disagree in some way only to find out that he couldn't.

* * *

 **Group C - Training Site**

Elsewhere another kitchen was filled with whining and lamenting young chefs.

"First day and my examiner turns out to be a 92nd Generation alumni."

"...4th...4th seat of all things..."

"I will never be able to make it out of here!"

"Goodbye, dear Totsuki. It was fun while it lasted!"

The only one calm and composed between all this misery was the valedictorian Kaori Hayama. Gracefully as always she made her way to the ingredients and picked what she needed.

This made her stand out for from the crowd for sure and the Totsuki alumni evaluating Group C was watching her with interested, blue eyes.

As a 92nd Generation alumnus, as well as former 4th Seat, Takumi Aldini had received a bigger uproar of admiration and despair from the students than his wife in Group D.  
Sometimes Takumi hated to be so cruel but it really was true that a good portion of students were not fit for the harsh culinary world. They claimed themselves as 'professional' despite not having any experience on how it is like to cook for actual customers. Totsuki was the first place where they truly experienced actual struggle. Before they had been praised into the heavens and received everything they wanted from their wealthy parents. They were easy to impress, uncreative, shallow and didn't had a true strive for the top, no matter how many times they would proclaim to have it.

Chefs like Kaori Hayama were different. Despite already having the top spot of her generation, Takumi could tell just by looking at her cooking that she was not satisfied yet.  
Her dish defiantly was the one he looked forward to the most and not just because she was the valedictorian.

He took a note in his head to ask Mika later what she thinks about Kaori. After all the lavender-haired girl could make a good rival for his fiery and daring daughter.

He smiled.

Some parents might be worried for their children when the Training Camp begins.

Takumi was not in the slightest.

* * *

 **Group H - Training Site**

"Good day, students of the 92nd Totsuki Generation. My name is Shigemichi Rui."

The woman crossed her arms and added. "I'll be the one testing you today."

While most of her classmates exchanged worried looks, Kimiko Yukihira only tilted her head. "Shigemichi Rui..." Hiroshi whispered. "All I truly know is that she is Shigemichi Kumai's wife. ...I think she is an alumnus of the 91st Generation, right Itoko-Chan?" Mika only leaned against the kitchen counter and shrugged. "Yeah, I think that was it."

Meanwhile, Rui wordlessly snapped her fingers and in came two workers. They brought in a big wheel that showcased the colours red, blue and yellow. Kimiko blinked in surprise. "Hm?" "What's that?" Mika questioned.

"Thanks." Rui said to the two workers, who gave a quick nod before retreating. With that Rui turned back to the class again. "Well then...Who's going to be the lucky charm today?"

"Lucky Charm...?" Hiroshi repeated in wonder. Ignoring the air of confusion around her, Rui only continued. "As I see no volunteers, I guess I'll pick myself." She did not look over the crowd too long. "Itsuki, would you be so kind?"

"Of course, mother." A stern voice replied in the back and made everyone turn around.!'

"...Mother?"

Their eyes fell on a bulky first year with straight, black bangs that hid his eyes perfectly but also made him look a little like a muscular mushroom.

It was only natural that a lot of whispers would emerge between the students after such a callout.

"So...Chef Shigemichi's son is with us here?"

"Shigemichi Itsuki...He's in my '' class. He's quite good."

"Oh boy..."

"He's probably going to be the best today."

The last comment made Kimiko perk up in interest and she curiously watched Itsuki making his way to the front.  
He was as emotionless as his mother and didn't seemed to mind the chats around him at all.  
The only time he moved his head was when he passed Kimiko, Hiroshi and Mika. He seemed to look at Hiroshi, who backed away a little in return.  
Mika's blue eyes narrowed.

"Itsuki." Rui spoke as her son had finally reached her. "Spin the wheel, please."  
He gave a nod and went to the wheel to fulfill the requests.

By the looks of it he had done it quite lazily but despite that the wheel was spinning like crazy.  
A small smile appeared on Rui's lips. But it was gone only a second later and she calmly turned back to the crowd.

"So, what's the point of this..?" Mika muttered to herself as she waited for the wheel to finally come to a stop.

Two minutes later the wheel had come to a halt. It's pointer was on the yellow area.  
The students shifted their gaze expectingly to Rui, hoping to finally get an explanation.  
Their hopes were utterly destroyed as Rui merely ordered Itsuki. "Spin it again, please."  
And without any commentary whatsoever Itsuki complied.

Mika was not amused.

"This is ridiculous! I'm sure the others are all cooking by now. Heck, most of them are probably already finished!" She hissed, while impatiently crossing her arms and starring daggers at the poor wheel. "Itoko-chan!" Hiroshi mumbled and casted a look to Rui in worry she might have heard his cousin.  
But the alumnus was still as expressionless as before.  
"I've got to agree with Mika-Chan." Kimiko chimed in. "This is taking quite long. I thought we were here to cook, no?"  
"I..I am sure she has her intentions." Hiroshi responded and set his focus back to the wheel again.

After another couple of minutes the wheel had come to a halt again, the pointerthis time on the blue area.  
And like last time, all attention went on Rui again.

As she turned to her son yet again, terror rose in the crowd.

"She's not going to...?"

"Please not...!"

"Watching this wheel spin yet again would only make me dizzy..."

Kimiko raised an eyebrow while Hiroshi worriedly looked at Mika who had clutched her fist in annoyance.

Sure enough a deep relief went through the crowd as Rui simply stated. "Thank you, Itsuki. You can go back now."  
The black-haired male nodded and response and began moving.  
She watched for a second with a small smile before her face hardened again.

"You." She pointed at a blonde girl, who immediately shrieked in surprise. "What colours did the wheel stop on?"  
The girl's eye grew and she started to  
stutter. "Well...uhm...uh..." "Cannot pay attention. Next!" Rui interrupted her and moved her finger an inch to point at the girl standing next to the blonde.  
Her eyes grew in light shock as well but in the end she unsurely answered. "I believe it was..." "We're in the kitchen right now child, not in a church. Either you know something or you don't." "B...Blue and Yellow...! Miss!"  
With a cool "Correct", Rui lowered her finger again.

"Blue and Yellow." She repeated for the class and made a hand gesture towards the wheel. "Those are the colours you will deal with today." She raised her voice a little. "Listen now, because I will only tell this once, so pay attention. Today's task, dear 115th Generation, is to create a dish with a blue and / or a yellow main ingredient. Team up if you like but I frankly don't care, so working alone is fine as well. Near this kitchen is a very large hall full of ingredients, so no need to worry. You have two hours. Failure to complete your dish within this timespan equals not passing."

She went silent for five seconds to let that sink in before she continued. "Your dish will be examined by me as soon as it's finished. Part of the judgement is a sort of grade so that the student knows just how good the dish was. That's why the dishes will be rated with points. 0 points is the worst and 20 points the best." Her voice suddenly became very sharp, as if she oughted to cut glass. "Furthermore...I'd like you to know that everything below 15 points is an expulsion."

Silence came over the room as the students stared at Rui in shock. She didn't seemed to mind though and only shrugged. "I really don't know why you're all just standing there. The task has been explained. I would start cooking now if I was in your place."

An then the uproar began.

"So it begun?!"

"15 points...that's more than half!"

"Focus back on work! A blue or a yellow ingredient!"

"Is there something naturally blue that you can eat?!"

"Let's Go with yellow. That leaves a lot more possibilities!"

"I agree. Yellow is defiantly the easier choice here."

Mika watched her classmates and couldn't help but to shake her head.  
"Itoko-Chan." She then heard Hiroshi's tender voice beside her.  
"Yeah?"  
Hiroshi looked at her with big, blue, innocent eyes and asked. "What's your plan?"  
"Oh...Well, I know which colour but let's check the ingredients hall first before we're planning further."  
Her cousin nodded. "Alright."

Mika studied his determined face for a little while before mumbling. "You can always chime in ideas as well, okay?"  
Hiroshi didn't respond.

But before Mika could say anything more, Kimiko joined the conversation. "Well, I should have known that you guys would team up." She smiled brightly at Hiroshi. "I would have liked to work with Hiroshi-kun a second time."  
Immediately Hiroshi's eyes grew in amazement. "Re...Really...?"  
Kimiko gave an eager nod back. "Of course."

While Hiroshi still stared at Kimiko in awe, Mika felt fire building up in her body. It was the same that she had experienced at the day as she saw Kimiko in her dorm for the first time.

"Yukihira." She loudly announced and fair enough for five seconds she had her attention. "As we're in the same group, I presume today's the day we finally settle who's superio-" But then she lost it again as Itsuki Shigemichi suddenly appeared.

All he was doing was walking towards his mother while talking to himself. "Everyone's taking yellow." He sighed. "Looks like this school truly is full of weaklings with no sense for challenge at all."

"Excuse me?" Kimiko then interrupted his monologue with a confident smirk.  
While Mika spat "Hey! Yukihira! Pay attention!" behind her, Itsuki only calmly turned his head.  
Kimiko' smirk grew a bit. "Don't you judge a little too fast?"

Itsuki continued to stare at her, forcing Kimiko to continue. "They say you'll be the top student today. I think I have to interfere with that."

Itsuki finally replied. "Judging by your boldness, I presume you will go with blue as well, hm?" "That's correct." Kimiko answered.

"You're Lucky that my mother rates the dishes per points." Itsuki turned away again and continued to walk on. "This will make absolutely clear who of us has the upper hand."

"This is going to be interesting." Kimiko whispered, before swiftly turning around and following the rest of her classmates who were hectically storming out of the kitchen to get to the ingredients.

The only ones who haven't moved away from their place yet were the Aldini cousins.

Hiroshi watched Kimiko. "She did it again." He said to himself.  
Then he looked at his cousin. "Itoko-Chan...should we get moving-" He stopped himself as he saw how his cousin was shivering.  
Her eyes were attached to the ground and she had balled her fists.

Between gritted teeth, she angrily growled.

"Yu...ki...hi...ra"

* * *

"Please be cautious. It's hot."

Not surprisingly, Kaori Hayama was the first one to present her dish in Takumi Aldini's class.  
Her voice alone put a stop to everyone's actions and many pair of eyes trailed to the purple-haired beauty in interest.  
She wore a stoic expression with not the slightest hint of nervousness on her face.

"Very well, then." Takumi gave the girl a warm, gentle smile while taking the spoon in his hands. "I anticipated your dish the most. The teachers have praised you a lot already and your classmates seem to hold great respect for you as well." He lowered his voice a little. „Your parents must be really proud."

Kaori responded in the same volume. "You have to ask them yourself on that matter, Chef Aldini."  
Takumi gave a nod. "Splendid suggestion. I really should contact them some time. It's been long since I spoke to any of them. But let's eat first."

The class was dead silent as the students watched Takumi diving the spoon into the soup. Everyone was curious to see what amazing creation the valedictorian served this time.  
Slowly but surely Takumi brought the spoon to his lips.

The moment he tasted the soup, his eyes teared up.

He felt an incredible warmth spreading in his body. His legs and arm became lighter and an immense, youthful energy filled him. For a moment Takumi was sure he could take on the entire world right now.  
It was like a breath of fresh air that filled him with new life.

For the students in his class it was almost as if his blonde hair had gone a lot more shorter. His skin also seemed more and more smooth and he looked a little shorter as well.

For just a little second, the students of Group C had a young Takumi Aldini in front of them.  
A free look into the past and into the 92nd Generation's school days.

But as quickly as the vision had come, it disappeared again and Takumi was an adult again.  
But no one could deny that he looked a lot more fresher than before.

The class exchanged impressed looks.

"So that's we're Kaori-Sama has her nickname from." One of them whispered. "'The Gatekeeper of the Fountain of Eternal Youth' is what they call her. 'Youth Preserver' is the short version."  
The student beside him nodded. "That's right. Kaori-Sama has already cooked for Elite chefs, renowned food experts and hard to please gourmets. They all say that her dishes have the power to give back a little youth. This saying comes from the fact that her cooking makes one feel more powerful and fills you with energy."

"Ex...Excellent..." Takumi mumbled. "Just by taking one spoon, I feel able to move mountains. This without a doubt passes, I don't even have to make a big show around it."

For once Kaori's face muscles moved.

She gave a small, pleased smirk. "It was my pleasure."

* * *

"12 points." Rui coldly stated before putting the chopsticks down.

The pair in front of her broke down as the realisation sunk in that they were expelled.

"The highest number of points she's given so far is 16. And even so, the number of people with 15 points is scaringly  
small." One of the students whimpered. "This is so depressing!" Their partner nodded approvingly.

Just then, a chef stepped in that was expected to do better than the rest.  
"I'm finished." He calmly announced and placed the plate in front of his mother.

"It's Shigemichi Itsuki's turn!"

"His mother will give him a pass and a good number of points for sure!"

Rui ignored the chats around her and only smiled at Itsuki. "As expected, you chose blue."

A second time the audience could not stay quiet.

"So he really did it!"

"Blue...There are barely any ingredients naturally blue...What did he even use?"

"Furthermore, it's a known fact that the colour blue can easily lower one's appetite."

Itsuki exhaled long and deep before slowly turning to his peers. "It's not as hard as you think finding a naturally, blue ingredient that also looks appealing to the eye. It's really simple honestly, your minds all just got blocked."  
Fists were clutched, teeth were gritted and glares were shot.  
And one look at the plate that Itsuki had served made the students realise what Itsuki had talked about.

In front of Rui was a truly, delicious-looking Blueberry cake.

Instantly a slight shame spread within the students.  
To think they really had forgotten something as simple as blueberries in all their panic was certainly embarrassing them.

"It's not unusual that such challenges evoke panic in students." Rui stated and picked up a fork. She smiled. "Panic often turns one's sight limited. But I'm glad that it didn't affect you, Itsuki."

She took the first bite and the audience watched in tense silence.

"Splendid!" Rui then suddenly called out with reddened cheeks. "It has a biscuit layer and the dough is chocolate. On top there is whipped cream sprinkled with whites chocolate pieces and blueberries. But the highlight is certainly the middle layer! A blueberry ice cream layer!"  
Satisfied she let the cold but fruity ice cream melt on her tongue before praising. "It has such a wonderful refreshing effect!"

For the first time, Rui finished a dish as a whole and there was certainly no surprise as she afterwards called out: "18 points! Passed!"

She placed the empty plate on the table next to her and spoke with that particular warmth that her voice always had when she addressed her son. "You are the first one who decided on a different route than everyone else and you defiantly excelled. It tasted great."

Itsuki gave a bow. "Thank you for the praise, mother."

Behind him, as usually, the whispers started. "As expected." "He has the highest number of points so far." "Told you he would come out as the best today."

With a small smirk that no one saw, Itsuki let the expressions of admiration shower over him and mentally bathed in the spotlight he was currently in. Just how he liked and imagined it.

But just then when the beautiful moment had reached its peak, a certain voice that rose above all the whispers had to creep in and destroy it all together.

"Hm, I have to say." The voice said. "I'm slightly disappointed."

Instantly all other voices died.

And Itsuki's face hardened.

He turned around with the speed of a turtle and slowly but surely he faced the owner of the voice.

A honey-blonde diner kid, smiling while perfectly balancing a plate on the right hand.

Outside, Itsuki appeared calm. But a flame was raging inside him and that girl's smile was petrol.

He whispered. "What?"

The girl only shrugged and elaborated. "Well after all your talking, I expected you to do something truly extraordinary. But blueberries?" She sighed, like a parent who just heard the news that their child had refuse to eat their vegetables again.

No one could see it, but Itsuki's left eye twitched in irritation.

But before Itsuki could say anything else, another voice suddenly joined the conversation.

"Aheam." A quick look behind him revealed that his mother had stood up from her chair.  
A few students in the front backed away.

They didn't knew how this was even possible but somehow the alumnus looked even colder than she already had looked before. It was almost as if the temperature in the room sank.  
And every word that came from Rui's lips made shivers run down the student's spines.

She clearly was not pleased.

"May I ask for your name, child? And when you're at it...might as well explain why you come in front here and..." The temperature had reached Arctic levels.  
"...insult my dear son?"

Either Kimiko Yukihira was very brave or very stupid. Whatever it was, the cold atmosphere had no effect on her.  
Instead of throwing herself to the floor, bowing and begging for excuse like most students in the rooms would've done it, she only tilted her head and scratched her chin afterwards with the free hand. "Oh, I'm sorry if I came across that rude. I was simply stating my thoughts. Maybe I should have voiced it differently." Nonchalant laughter followed that made a lot of students question Kimiko's sanity.

"Your Name." Rui spat demandingly and a few students flinched at the sharp tone. But once again, Kimiko seemed unaffected. "Oh...yeah, yes of course. I am sorry, Chef Shigemichi." She plastered on a big grin and announced in festive demeanour. "Yukihira Kimiko."

For a moment it was silent and the students anxiously just waited for something to happen.  
Finally Rui spoke. "Well then, Chef Yukihira."  
Slowly she sat down on her chair again and in an elegant manner she crossed her legs and held out a hand, challenging.  
"Please serve your dish. I'm _absolutely eager_ to see what you put on your plate."

Kimiko nodded, still unfazed by the threatening aura that surrounded the examiner now.  
She moved forward and with a swift "Let it hopefully satisfy you", she placed the plate in front of Rui.

What followed was a gasp from Rui's side.  
Itsuki swing around in wonder what caused his mother to gasp. But one look at the plate brought bewilderness on his face as well and he mumbled. "Wha...What?"

The rest of the class now tried to catch a glimpse of the plate as well and more and more shocked "Huh"s and "How"s could be heard.

Kimiko grinned. "I present: 'Boiled Eggs from the Sea'!"

What Rui had in front of her was a pile of fluffy, light-blue something with two eggs and a few vegetables in the middle of it.

"What's that?"

"Can you even eat that?"

"The blue stuff looks a little like cream doesn't it?"

"So you..." Rui started, clearly still taken a back, "...Those are..."

"Mashed Blue Potatoes." Kimiko ended the sentence and gave last nod as confirmation.  
She then turned to her classmates and held up a deep-blue conk that looked like taken right out of the sea.  
"Blue Potatoes." She announced. "They taste good, you should try 'em!"  
All she received were pretty dumbfounded faces and silence. So she simply continued. "There where a lot of 'em in the hall with the ingredients, you should have looked better."  
She pointed at the potato in her hand and turned her head to Itsuki. "Now that is what I call an blue ingredient. Blue, tasty and certainly _unusual_."

Itsuki gritted his teeth at that, not wanting to openly admit that Kimiko did have a point.

"Don't you agree, Chef Shigemichi?" She then asked Rui in a sugar-sweet voice.

Rui gripped her fork tighter at that. "This is indeed..." It was as if she was struggling to say the following words. "...the...perfect...response to the task."  
Kimiko's grin grew a little wider.  
"But I still have to judge how it tastes." Rui then sharply noted and lifted her fork.

A sweet, delicious flavour practically washed over Rui the next second. No matter how hard she tried to be extra critical on this dish, she could not deny it's tastiness.  
Her tongue found a hint of garlic in the savoury mashed potatoes which paired perfectly with the fresh vegetables and the creamy egg.

She had wanted it to be bad, she really did. But in the end, it was true that this fairly overcame her son's dish in every aspect.

"Twe..." she mumbled, her brain still trying to comprehend that she really was going to say that. "Twen...Twenty Points!"

Itsuki clutched his fist while the uproar of shock happened behind him.

"20?!"

"She really earned full points! Amazing!"

"Hiraku-Sama's sister indeed!"

"True, we're talking about Hiraku-Sama's sister here after all."

"Kimiko-Sama! Look my way."

For a second Kimiko's smile disappeared and she pressed her lips together.  
But as quick as the grim expression had come it disappeared again and her trademark grin was back. "Glad you liked it!"

Rui just looked to the side, not responding. And so, Kimiko had no choice but to simply turn around and to go back to her workstation.

On her way she passed Itsuki, who had gritted his teeth and crossed his arms. She gave him a little smile while walking past him.  
Unlike Takayuki, Itsuki had made no real impression on her.

Satisfied and proud with herself, Kimiko arrived at her workstation, not minding the many impressed looks burning on her.  
She only began to clean without any worry on her mind.

She had done a good job today. Her dish had taken everyone aback and she managed to turn out as the very best candidate. She was sure that there was no way anyone else would earn-

"Twenty points."

Kimiko's inner monologue of self-praise was abruptly put to an halt, as Rui's voice reached her ear.

 _Did she just say-?_

"A...Another twenty points?!"

"Wow..."

"What did she make? What did she make?"

Kimiko would have love to hear more from Rui, but of course her noisy classmates had to interfere with that plan once again.

It left Kimiko with no other choice but to return to the front again, to see who it was that destroyed her plans of being the best in class today.  
And so she tried to push herself trough the sea of chefs who all tried to catch a glimpse of the front.

Just as she was nearly there, a voice could be heard.  
And instantly Kimiko remembered that she had forgotten something. Or rather, someone.

"Grazie!" A more than familiar voice exclaimed in the front. "Thank you very much." Another voice said right after and just like the first one, this one was also not unbeknownst to Kimiko.

A few steps and a few more elbow action, officially confirmed what Kimiko has suspected.  
In front of Rui there stood her two dorm mates.  
Mika and Hiroshi.

Mika had proudly crossed her arms and wore a prideful smirk. Hiroshi looked a lot more insecure in comparison and fiddled with his fingers while staring at the floor.  
Rui had a bowl in her hands and her cheeks were reddened.  
Itsuki only stared at his mother. His body language insecure and taken aback.

"Mika-Chan...Hiroshi-Kun..." Kimiko spoke and couldn't hide the slight shame she felt for forgetting about her dorm mates because of her little challenge towards Itsuki.

 _But other than that...What was going on?_

 _Twenty points?_

 _Just like her?_

 _Was Mika...that good?_

"Oh Yukihira." Mika looked over her shoulder, her expression remaining one of pride.  
"Kimiko-san!" Hiroshi called out and swung around to meet Kimiko's face.

"What did you..." Kimiko moved her head up, down and left, right to get a look on Rui's bowl. "What did you make?"

Mika's smirk grew a little and now she fully turned around. "I'm very glad you asked. Hiroshi, if you'd be so kind?"

Hiroshi let out a little soft sigh. He gave Kimiko an almost excusing look, before saying. "Pasta, Ravioli to be exact, filled with spinach and bathed in an Avocado-Cream-Sauce. We also added a few pine nuts and olives."

Kimiko blankly stared at the blue-haired boy.  
...Spinach? ...Avocado...?

 _Wait a minute..._

A girl next to her spoke out aloud what she'd been thinking. "But...aren't those green ingredients?!"

Immediately the realisation spread within the rest of the class.

"Indeed."

"Isn't that against the topic?"

Kimiko meanwhile clutched her fist.  
Unlike her fellow classmates, she had figured it out.  
She directly looked at Mika, who only returned the challenging gaze still smirking.

 _Damnit._

A few seconds later, Mika dropped the stare battle and looked at her other classmates instead.  
"I did not in any way broke the rules I was just a little more creative and thoughtful." She raised a finger. "Chef Shigemichi clearly state: A yellow **_and_** /or blue ingredient. I really didn't think I'd have to explain this to high schoolers, but if you mix yellow and blue it does indeed give green. Correct, Chef Shigemichi?"

"Correct." Rui muttered. "It really was not an violation to the rules."

"Wow..." Someone whispered. "She really was able to stay cool in all this to get such an idea!"

"Perfect." Another responded. "She defiantly was able to make her stand out from the crowd and be unique but also didn't chained herself to a small number of possible ingredients, considering that there are ton of green ingredients!"

Kimiko couldn't help herself but to agree.  
She had expected Mika to be good, but a good that was just slightly above average. Never would she had imagined that any other Chef on this school, except Mona and Lola, could stand toe to toe with her.

But Mika Aldini certainly could.

"What did you say at the entrance ceremony again?" Mika mused and shifted her gaze back to Kimiko. "You we're talking about the fact you're not going to loose to 'rich kins not having stood in a kitchen once', right?"

Kimiko quickly let that sequence replay in her head before nodding. "That's correct."

"Well then Yukihira." Mika's smirk disappeared. "You judged a little too fast there. To tell you the truth, my parents may are successful, famous chefs owning a huge restaurant branch, but despite that: all knowledge I have on cooking comes from practical training. I've been helping in the restaurant since I am small."

"It shows." Kimiko could only say.

"Hiroshi here helped out in his Ryokan a lot of times as well, by the way." Mika then smiled to her cousin. "He did a wonderful job on the spinach."

Hiroshi couldn't help but to blush a little at that and he quickly looked away.

Mika continued speak then. "Well, today you're lucky that there is no higher number of points to give anymore. But let me tell you this..." Now she suddenly pointed at Kimiko. "I will crush you. With everything I can offer on the plate, I'll teach you just how powerful the heir to the Trattoria Aldini can really be." Her voice became sharp and she eyed Itsuki. "And I am not going to let anyone steal my show again as your rival again."

Determined fire build up in Kimiko's bones.  
Right now there was nothing she wanted more than to face off with this immensely skilled chef her age. And she was ultimately angry with herself for ignoring this powerhouse and focusing of a much more weaker opponent.

She returned Mika's challenging gaze and stated. "I can't wait!"

* * *

"I can't wait to get into the hotel room. All I want right now is sleep." Chieko yawned and stretched herself afterwards.

Yasu, who sat beside her, continued to pet Megane-cchi on his hand while answering. "This day was just the beginning, you know Chi-chan?"

"Of course I do!" Chieko spat. "Why did we had to deal with such an exhausting task first anyway?!" She threw her arms into the air. "I mean, running around in search of ingredients in the wilderness? It was so tiring."

"But Inui-senpai was very pleased with our dish in the end." Yasu reminded.

"Speaking of Inui-senpai." Chieko then said, after a small, little period of silence. Her eyes suddenly began to sparkle and her cheeks reddened. "How high do you think is the possibility that the alumni will cook for us today?"

"Hm?" Yasu turned his head to the black-haired girl.

"Well I mean, those are high-class chefs..." Chieko's tone shifted to a higher note the more excited she got. "...I'd certainly be delighted to try their cooking! It'd be a great honour!"

"Yeah, I am sure it would be nice." Yasu answered and shifted his gaze away from his friend again. So he noted the new arrivals that were currently approaching them.  
"Oh hey, look!" He called out. "It's the Aldinis and Yukihira!"

This put a stop to Chieko's daydreams and she perked up as well, adjusting her glasses in the meantime. "You're right." She nodded and jumped up to properly greet the three.

"Hello!" She waved, as soon as Kimiko, Mika and Hiroshi arrived in front of the three. Behind her, Yasu silently nodded a greeting.

Kimiko lifted her hand, Mika said "Hey" and Hiroshi warmly smiled. "Hello, Marui-san and Ibusaki! So I see you passed as well. That's good news." He then noticed the yellow featherball in Yasu's hands and excitedly called out. "Megane-cchi is back too!"

Yasu stood up and laid the chick into Hiroshi's open hands. "She's a little tired though, because Inui-senpai couldn't stop smooching and petting her."

"It's not named Megane-cchi." Chieko mumbled, barely audible to Hiroshi.

"So...What now?" Kimiko asked. Mika crossed her arms. "Did Kawashima and Aoki made it?"

"They both contacted us a little earlier. They're on their way!" Chieko informed before her eyes got all sparkly again as she swooned. "And about what happens next. I am not sure but I hope it will be a magnificent banquet by the talented alumnus for us!"

But sadly, Chieko shouldn't get her wish.

As Hideyoshi and Daisuke finally arrived, the group made their way into the hall where the rest of their classmates were already waiting.  
Who also was waiting was Fuyumi Mizuhara and a huge group of muscular, bulk men.

"What the-" Chieko called out at that sight. "What's that?"  
Her dormmates were just as confused and always shifted their gaze to Fuyumi in hope she'd explain it.

Thankfully she did.

"Greetings, students. Glad to see, so many of you made it through today." Fuyumi calmly said and silenced the crowd immediately.  
Absolutely expressionless Fuyumi then pointed to the group of men beside her. "Those gentlemen here next to me are students of a Well-known, successful sport school in California. They're our guests today."

She made a small little pause before saying the death sentence. "And you'll cook for them today."

"Whaaaaaat?!" The crowd screamed all together.

"But I am so exhausted!"

"You can't be serious!"

"I just want sleep."

Yasu took a quick look at Chieko who had turned pale at Fuyumi's words and looked at the crowd in the front with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"You'll all make 50 servings each. In a Timespan of 2 Hours. Should you fail to meet this expectation, you're failed all together and expelled."

A good portion of students almost choked on the air at that. One even fainted.

Despite that Fuyumi merciless continued. "You may cook yourself dinner when you're done with the task."

She didn't left the students anymore time to whine and protest a little more and quickly raised a stopwatch in her hand. "Begin."

Screaming and panicking the students rushed into the kitchen.  
Most of them moved hastily and without any concentration. A lot of anxious mumbled and heavy breathing could be heard.  
Making everything even worse, you could also hear the yells of the students from the California schools rudely and loudly demanding their food.

Between all this chaos, Kaori Hayama managed to stay calm and elegantly completed her work with ease.

Lola and Mona only took a look at each other and reached for something on their neck simultaneously.

Takayuki was yelling back at the guys that they'd get their damn food when it was goddamn ready. As one of them made he dangerous, dangerous mistake to call him "midget", his anger went up to eleven.

Hideyoshi and Daisuke were arguing every single time they crossed paths, which was a lot of times. When not at each other's throats, Hideyoshi loudly bragged over and over about his skills, while Daisuke only nervously reassured himself that he was going to be okay.

Yasu was calmly stirring something in a pot as he suddenly heard a soft giggle. He turned around and saw Chieko with her back turned to him while chopping a few vegetables. "...Chi-chan?...Everything alright?"  
"Mom was right." Chieko whispered without answering her best friend's question. "This camp is hell."

"Oh My, Oh my, Oh my." Hiroshi threw a tantrum while carefully preparing his dish, flinching every time the loud guys said something.

Mika angrily gritted her teeth as she heard Kimiko exclaiming. "Done!"

"You may won this round Yukihira! But I will come back at you! Just you wait!" She barked.

Kimiko strolled past her classmates, as she was allowed to leave. "Well, I see you guys later! I am waiting in Chieko-chan's room!"

"Sure!" "See ya later." "Good work, Yukihira." "We'll have a Card Match later, Yukihira! Prepare yourself!" "S...See you later, Kimiko-San"  
"Now wait up! This is all already tiring enough! I don't need you guys to be hanging out in my-"

But Chieko's protest was interrupted. "Four-Eyes! Move a little faste, will ya!" The hulks yelled.

Immediately Chieko forgot about Kimiko and she turned to the male students. Her eyes narrowed. "How. Did. You. Just. Call. Me?"

While Chieko increasingly speed up her movements in anger, Kimiko had already left the kitchen.

Day one of Training Camp has all in all been a success. Although she could not deny that the encounter with Mika earlier had defiantly pulled on her pride.

And little did she know, that this would not be the last time.


End file.
